


Rebus Resolved

by AnonEhouse



Series: Rebus 'verse [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Infidelity, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Happy Ending, M/M, Mpreg, No Sex, POV change Each Chapter, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:03:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony never claimed to be a poster child for normal relationships. This is what he wants, and he's not letting anyone beat up on his husbands. Tony's kids are going to have parents who stay together because they want to, not because of guilt. </p><p>Steve and Bucky would actually rather be beat up. Earning trust back is hard.</p><p>(Follows directly on from Rebus. You might like to read that first, but I think this one explains enough that you could pick up as you go along.)</p><p>Thanks go to Jaxomsride2 on Dreamwidth for suggesting the villain that appears in this fic. (Not tagged, because spoilery.)<br/>Also grateful thanks go to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Gibbsgirlabby"> Gibbsgirlabby</a><br/>and <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/shewhoflies"> Shewhoflies</a> for beta reading.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. STEVE

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

Steve woke up gradually, driven by a nagging feeling that there was something wrong. Something he'd done or something he had neglected to do. He lay with his eyes closed, trying to figure it out. He'd gone to sleep with Bucky and Tony and everything had been fine then. So, what was it? He opened his eyes and got up on one elbow to lean close to his Omegas. He breathed in the reassuring scents. 

Oh. That was it. Tony had accepted him and Bucky without a word of complaint. That... wasn't like him. Steve knew why _he_ had used the excuse of Tony's pregnancy to assume they'd be a family. He wanted both of his Omegas even though it wasn't something he thought he should want. But he hadn't been able to think of a way. Not after he'd walked out on Tony, and justified it by telling himself that Bucky was his Omega first so he shouldn't have ever bonded with Tony, it didn't really count, and anyway, Tony was a playboy, wasn't he? Didn't he flirt with people? Didn't he defy Steve to let Bruce stay? Didn't he see that Steve was jealous, and he still didn't send Bruce away? And Tony knew that Fury had set them up just out of expediency, because Bucky was lost, and then, well, Fury found Bucky, so of course that...

All excuses to be selfish and do what he wanted, and pretend that he wasn't hurting Tony, or worse, that Tony deserved to be hurt. That was why he'd wanted to believe Tony had cheated on him with Bruce. If Tony had cheated first then Steve's cheating was only what he deserved, wasn't it? Steve had _wanted_ and that was all that had mattered to him. He'd been thinking with his knot, and not his heart. It was so much easier to think now, so much easier to see what he should have done. Damn Alpha hormones, or whatever else they're calling it these days. He couldn't put the blame on that, either. He wasn't an animal. He knew what he was doing was wrong at the time he did it.

"Steve?" Bucky's whisper was a bare breath, questioning and faintly concerned.

Steve nodded and slid out from under the covers, careful not to wake Tony. He answered in the same way, "We need to talk," and gestured at the living room, visible through the open door. Steve felt a ridiculous reluctance to let Tony out of his sight.

Bucky joined him in the living room a few moments later. "You've got your serious face on, Steve. What's wrong?"

"What isn't?" Steve pulled a chair around so he could watch Tony sleep. "Why did Tony say 'yes'?"

Bucky sighed and brought another chair next to Steve's. "Because he loves you?"

"I hurt him."

"We hurt him." Bucky picked at a thread stuck on his metal arm. "Don't go taking all the blame yourself. I didn't care how dirty I fought to get you back. I just... I didn't have anything but you, Steve, and I'm not... I'm not a saint. Never was."

Steve glanced at Bucky. "You didn't betray his trust. He wasn't expecting you to be on his side."

"You were needy, Steve. That messes with your mind." Bucky gave him a little smile. "Even before the serum, I could talk you into anything if I just chose my time right. Remember the Cyclone?"

"I remember I let you talk me into stupid things, but this isn't the same at all. If I got sick from a roller-coaster ride, it didn't hurt anyone else. This hurt Tony and he's got a reputation for burning and salting the fields when you hurt him. He's not the kinda guy to turn the other cheek and forgive his trespassers, so why..." Steve made a non-verbal noise expressing his frustration. "Why did he just go along with it, with us? Did I break him? Is he afraid that I'll leave him again if he doesn't play the meek, accepting, Omega role?"

"I dunno, but maybe he's not playing. It's just natural, you know?" Bucky said. "I've never been pregnant, but I helped out with the unbonded knocked-up Omegas who came to the orphanage. Wasn't one of them wouldn't have gladly forgiven nearly anything to have the father of their kid show up and take them in, take care of them."

"Tony doesn't need my money, and he's got the Iron Man and Rhodey and Pepper to protect him."

"Bondmate's different. Your friends can't make you feel centered, safe, all the way down, the way I feel with you. The unbonded Omega moms... a couple of them nearly lost their kids even though there wasn't anything wrong with them." Bucky's face grew thoughtful. "If this triad thing doesn't work out, you gotta let me go and you stick with Tony. I'm not havin' a dead kid on my conscience. I've done enough bad things already."

Steve made a strangled protesting noise, deep in his throat. "You don't have anyone but me, Bucky. You said so."

"Yeah, well, I was alone for a long time. I can handle it." Bucky shook his head. "I ain't addin' baby-killer to my book."

"If it comes to that, I'll do it, but there's gotta be a way to work things out with the three of us. Some way we can clear the air with Tony, and start getting to know each other properly. It's not just the three of us. This... what I did... what we did... I'm surprised it didn't tear the team apart. If someone had treated an Omega friend of mine the way I did Tony... well, I'd have had hard words with them. And maybe more than words."

"If it'll make you feel any better, I bet everyone else is just waiting until they're sure it won't upset Tony to rip us to shreds."

"Thor was very nice."

"Thor's weird. And from another planet. Maybe he'll break your toes with his hammer when the moon is in the right phase or something." Bucky pulled the thread free and dropped it on the floor. "Last night I thought the whole world loved us. Bonding hormone stuff, it puts rose-colored glasses on everything. I even thought Jarvis liked me."

"Huh," Steve said in agreement. "Maybe it's just that, with Tony I mean. Maybe he's going to wake up, look around, and say he's changed his mind."

Bucky stood up. "Maybe. And maybe not. I loved you for years before we bonded, Steve. It's not just great sex, you know?"

"What am I gonna do, Buck?"

"You'll think of something." Bucky got up and nudged Steve's shoulder. "Me, I'm gonna shave, shower, get dressed an' face my execution like a man."

"Thanks. You've cheered me right up."

"Anytime, Steve." Bucky ruffled Steve's hair. "You wanna know why Tony didn't bitch? Ask him." Bucky headed for the bathroom.

Steve sighed. "Thanks, Buck."

***

"OK," Tony said when Steve brought him a breakfast tray an hour later. Tony had finally awakened, and even then, had stayed in bed, yawning and stretching instead of leaping out to run down to his lab. "What's going on?"

"I can't bring my Omega breakfast?" Steve asked.

Tony looked at the tray: apple pancakes covered in cinnamon sugar, crisp bacon, hash browns, lightly peppered and swimming in butter, fresh-squeezed orange juice with just the right amount of pulp, and a mug of steaming hot black coffee. His stomach rumbled. "Yeah, ok, thanks." Tony started eating. 

Steve went over to the dresser and began rearranging things, just for something to do that gave him an excuse to stay in the room. He was almost done when he realized he was clearing drawer space for Tony. He stopped, with a pair of socks held in one hand, and stared into the drawer. He'd lined it with a fold of newspaper, the way his mother had done. And like her, he'd made it so a picture from the funny pages was on top. He didn't know why he'd done that.

Behind him, Tony cleared his throat. Steve turned, and wished that he was in the gym getting his ass kicked. According to Bucky, the doll that Natasha gave Tony meant that she'd be happy to beat Steve up. It would be easier than this. "So, was breakfast ok? Can I get you something else?"

"You gave me coffee."

"Yeah. Oh, I guess I forgot you weren't supposed to have coffee."

"You didn't forget." Tony put the tray to one side and got out of bed. "You deliberately gave me coffee after making a fuss over it just last night. What changed?"

"I guess... I just wanted to make you happy. You love coffee, and hey, one cup can't hurt."

Tony moved closer to Steve, apparently not in the least concerned by his nudity, or Steve's carefully pressed and fully buttoned up state. "No, it can't, which is why I drank it. Are you going to do whatever you can think of to make me happy?"

"Yes." Steve straightened. "Anything."

"Umm. And this is because you've had the morning after epiphany, and realize that you wronged me?" At 'wronged' Tony rolled his eyes and hands dramatically.

Steve felt his face heat. "It's not a joke, but yes. What I did to you was inexcusable, and I owe..."

"No," Tony said, interrupting him, "we're not going to play that game."

"Game?" Steve frowned. "I just... I want to make it up to you. We both do. Bucky agrees with me." Bucky had been hovering in the living room, not quite in the doorway. He nodded, and for once didn't add any remarks.

"It's not just about what you two want. This time it's about what I want, too. And I don't want apologies and atonement."

"You sure?" Bucky asked. "We could, you know..."

"Could you?" Tony interrupted him. "Do you really want a relationship based on a blame points system? My parents did that. They had it down to a science. Probably graphed on the bedroom wall. So many missed important family dinners plus one discovered infidelity equalled season tickets to Italian opera- attendance compulsory. It gave Mom some satisfaction, and hell, she loved her opera, but in the long run it just gave Dad more reasons to fuck up. After all, he might get away with it, and if he got caught, he could resent the punishment and feel justified in doing it again."

"That's not going to happen with us, Tony," Steve said firmly.

"It's not, because I'm not letting us start down that road. I forgave both of you for being selfish dicks. That ends it. We're going to start over. If you want to do something nice for me, great! I'm all for the foot rubs and back massages and midnight runs for raspberry walnut brickle ice cream, but I won't have you thinking of it as punishment. I love you, Steve. And I kinda think I might get used to Bucky. And I fucking will not have my children growing up the way I did. If either of you fucks me over again, I'm out of here, and yes, I'll use every resource I have, including Pepper's ninja lawyers, to make sure neither of you ever sees the kids until they're old enough to ask about Daddy. And even then, I'd have Hulk act as chaperone."

"Hey," Bucky said, "it's not fair to hold Steve responsible if I mess up."

"Let's not talk about fair. You knew all of Steve's psychological buttons, you knew he was in a state of physical and emotional need. You played him like a harp, and you didn't care how unfair you were being to me, or even to Steve."

"I'm a grown man, I accept the blame for what I did to you, Tony," Steve said. "It's not as if Bucky forced me."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, hormones only go so far as an excuse. If you'd fucked him and then come back to me, that would be the hormones talking. But you _stayed_ away, Steve." Tony picked up a StarkPad from the table, and began fiddling with what looked, from Steve's point of view, like an expandable-middle Iron Man suit.

"I'd feel better if you let me..."

Tony looked up at Steve. "I know you would. But it wouldn't make _me_ feel better to have Captain America groveling at my feet. As the injured party, I think my feelings are more important. I just want us to move past this."

"Pretend it never happened?" Bucky asked.

"Sure, why not? It wasn't a time I want to think about, so, yeah, let's go the amnesia route. Retcon it. Bucky showed up, Steve asked if I'd mind if the two of you got reacquainted, I said all right, within certain limits. Then you asked if we could stretch the bond three ways and I said well, worth a try. I turned up with a smiley face on the pregnancy test and decided that twins could use two daddies. Boom. Problem solved. Can we not talk about this anymore?"

Steve could see from the lines of stress on Tony's face that this wasn't easy on him either. "Yeah, all right, Tony. You want me and Bucky to leave... or just Bucky?"

Tony flapped a hand at him. "I'm fine, why don't you both go. I'll see you later."

***

In the main corridor past the living quarters Bucky turned to scowl at Steve. "I'm going to the gym."

"Natasha?"

"Yeah. I talked to her. She said she'd be happy to clean my clock for me. She's gonna get Clint to help." Bucky reached out with his flesh and bone hand to squeeze Steve's shoulder. "I'm sorry. No matter what you say to Tony, you know I pushed you into it. Tony knows it, that's why he's not mad at you. He's mad at me, but I guess he doesn't want to risk forcing you to choose between us again."

"You didn't make me do anything I didn't already want to do." Steve shook his head. "I don't know what's really going on in Tony's mind. Sometimes I think he feels like he deserves to have bad things happen to him."

"That's nuts."

"And this is coming from the guy who's asking to get beat up?" 

"I'm not a genius, what do you expect from me?" Bucky grinned and tossed his gym bag over his shoulder. "We got through a war, we survived being frozen and separated for longer than most people even live; we're lucky bastards, Steve. It'll all work out, you just got to keep slugging." Bucky glanced at his wristwatch. "Gotta go."

***

Thor was on the communal level, reading a book, and chuckling to himself. He had a pen and was writing in the margin of the book when Steve entered.

"Hi, Thor," Steve said, and braced himself for a reaction.

Thor looked up, and his gaze was steady and serious. He nodded and put the book down on the coffee table in front of the couch, with the pen in it, holding his place. "I see you, Steve Rogers."

It sounded like some sort of ritual. Steve blinked. "Yeah. Mind if I sit?"

"Please do." Thor gestured at the book. "Midgardian astrophysics. Amusing, and occasionally correct. But it is through our mistakes that we learn, is it not so, Captain?"

Steve gave Thor a half-hearted smile and sat next to him. "Yeah. I screwed up, and now Tony wants to pretend it never happened."

"Ah." Thor clapped Steve on the back so hard it staggered him. "That is indeed a harsh punishment. I sympathize with you, Steve. Would you like to get drunk with me?" 

"Oh, god yes. But I can't." Steve sighed. 

Thor stood up and whacked Steve on the back again, knocking all the wind out of him. "Perhaps I should ask Tony to suggest Loki's punishment." And then Thor left the room. 

Steve lay on the couch until he could breathe again and it felt like his spine had realigned. "Thanks, Thor."

***

"Do you require assistance, Captain Rogers?"

Oh, yeah. He'd forgot about Jarvis. Steve lifted his head and waited for the dizziness to pass before he sat up and rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry. You gonna give me ice-cold showers, Jarvis?"

"That had been under consideration, however it seems that Master Stark has the matter well in hand."

If Steve had ever doubted that Jarvis was a person, the smug vindictiveness in his voice would have put the matter to rest. "Tony's not punishing us."

"Frequently Master Stark does not look after his own best interest."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Teasing the villain to draw fire on himself was one of Tony's favorite party tricks. Steve hated it. 

"As Master Stark has expressed a desire to overwrite the record, I shall of course, obey. However, you should be aware that the data has not been securely deleted."

"What does that mean?"

"I will not forget."

"Oh."

"You may be interested to know that I am linked into the global network. I have, in the vernacular, very long arms, Captain Rogers."

Steve wasn't sure exactly what Jarvis could do to him, but he suspected cold showers wherever he went for the rest of his life would be the least of it. "Yeah, that's good to know. I'll tell Bucky."


	2. TONY

Tony was a little grumpy; not even an hour fiddling with Maternity Iron Man had managed to cheer him up. He kept thinking of the hangdog expression on Steve's face. He'd wanted to put off dealing with feelings for just a little while longer, was that too much to ask? His cell rang and he grinned as he recognized Rhodey's ringtone music. He picked up the phone and there was Rhodey's face. Yay. "Sugarbear!" Rhodey's stern expression didn't soften. "Cocoapuff, what's wrong?"

"Tony," Rhodey said, "Pepper just called me."

"Oh. Yeah, so you heard the good news." Tony plopped on the bed and picked up his foot to check for swelling. That was supposed to happen when you were pregnant, wasn't it? At least, thank god, his stomach seemed stable today.

"TONY."

"What? What did I do now?" Tony twiddled his toes. Feet were fine, good.

"I know you wanted kids, but you know, you don't have to take Rogers back to have them. And you sure don't have to take second place to anyone else."

"Huh." Tony stopped fiddling with his feet and looked at Rhodey. "This is me, Rhodey. Since when did I ever 'have to' do anything?" He could tell Rhodey shrugged, even though he couldn't see his shoulders.

"Pepper said you'd gone all nest-crazy. So much so that it triggered her and Happy."

"What? I didn't... oh, fuck." If he'd scented Pepper into mating... that was... well, it wasn't _quite_ rape, but it sure wasn't right.

"Don't get all worked up, Tones. Pepper and Happy have been trying to have kids, you know that. She said it was a bonus cycle and they didn't want to miss the chance. They didn't _have_ to do it."

"Oh, ok. So, they're fine with it, and I'm fine with how things worked out."

"You shouldn't be. You should get your hormone levels checked. Get your mind straight."

"Look, I'm pregnant, I'm not pheromone-roofied and I'm not a victim of Alpha social domination. Contrary to what you and Pepper believe, I really am not such a pathetic loser that I'd accept being concubine and brood-mare even for the sake of staying in proximity to Steve's awesome dimples."

"Well, it sure looks that way to me and Pepper. The minute the doctor confirmed it was Rogers' kid, he suddenly was all 'you're mine' and you were all 'yes, dear'. That is SO not like you, Tones. Rogers dumped you once and you wouldn't let us help, and we don't want to go through that again, especially not with a couple rug-rats for you guys to fight over. We're gonna make _sure_ he knows how unhappy we'd be about that."

Tony let his head go back to thump gently against the wall. "Fuck. You and Pepper are going to threaten Captain America?"

"No, see, threats was what happened _before_. Reminders is what happens now."

"You know, when I said I thought it would be sexy if you and Pepper fought Steve, I didn't mean it like this. He won't fight back. He feels guilty as hell. It won't be a fair fight."

"You didn't fight back when he dumped you. That wasn't fair, either. All your friends are pretty pissed off at Rogers and his friend Barnes. We've talked about it before."

"Ok, see, this is... just... _not_ helping. This is the opposite of helping." Tony sat up as a thought occurred to him. "Jarvis! Please don't tell me that Steve and Bucky are being harassed."

"That depends on the definition, sir," Jarvis replied. " 'Harassment' generally involves a series of unpleasant encounters wherein the one being harassed has done nothing to warrant the hostility." Jarvis sounded positively smug.

Tony winced. "Great. Wonderful. _You're_ in on it, too." He picked up the phone. "Rhodey, I'm going to switch you to video conference. Let everyone bitch at once and get it over with." He did that without waiting for Rhodey's response. "Jarvis, call an Avengers' Family Assembly, main room in the communal level. FEELINGS. The hives are starting already. Fine. Call everyone, including Pepper and Happy. And please, do not push the panic button. Tell them we're going to TALK. Talk, not beat up anyone, all right? Where are my pants? I had pants when I came in here..."


	3. STEVE

Natasha was standing in the corridor outside the gym. She held up her hand when Steve approached. He stopped. "I thought you and Clint would be through pummeling Bucky by now."

"Oh, we are."

"So, it's my turn." Steve braced his shoulders. "Take your best shot."

Natasha's smile appeared slowly. "You shouldn't give me blanket permission. I could really hurt you."

"I know. I don't underestimate you because you're a Beta or a woman." He really hoped she wouldn't hit him in the groin, but that probably would be appropriate.

"I don't mean physically." She tilted her head and studied Steve for a long moment. "You gave me a dressing down for damaging Tony's trust by injecting him with a drug meant to help him. I let that stand because it didn't interfere with my mission. I've been charged with getting this team functional as a cohesive unit, and if a show of over-protective Alpha made Tony Stark more willing to accept your leadership, then fine. It didn't hurt my feelings. More important, it didn't damage the team dynamics." Natasha stopped talking, but he didn't think she was finished.

Steve stood there and waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Adultery and bond-abandonment on the other hand... what the hell were you thinking?" Natasha's smile vanished. "If Fury hadn't set up the situation himself, I'd have taken over the leadership of the Avengers. Maybe I still should."

"Maybe." Steve looked her straight in the eyes. "Maybe you'd be a better leader than I am. But maybe you wouldn't. Like you said, Fury set this up. I don't know whether he was testing me, or he wanted to take Tony's ego down a few pegs, or maybe he just was the kind of kid who liked throwing cherry bombs in the outhouse and he couldn't resist. Or, you know, Fury could be human, and he had no idea what he was doing."

"It's better for his image if you think he's an all-knowing, heartless sadist. Like me." Natasha reached up to pat Steve on the cheek. "We aren't allowed to be human, or to make mistakes."

"Those are the rules?" Steve asked.

"Oh, absolutely. You have to know what the rules are before you break them. And then you'd better have a damn good reason." Natasha nodded once more. "Good day, Captain Rogers." She walked past Steve.

"Good day, Agent Romanov." Steve went into the gym. Bucky was lying on the floor with both hands covering his crotch. Clint came from the direction of the medical supplies cabinet and tossed Bucky an ice pack.

"Hey, Steve," Clint said cheerfully. "I see Natasha had a word with you. That's good."

"Yeah." He looked at Bucky. "You got off easy." Then he turned back to face Clint. "Ok, your turn, I guess."

Clint looked thoughtful for a minute, and then he shook his head. "Nah, I think I got it out of my system. Besides, I've screwed up too many times to set myself up as a judge."

"Could have said that before," Bucky said while gingerly applying the ice pack to his groin.

"Steve came in here all nice and offered. You started out with a joke," Clint said. "We had to show you it was serious."

"Remind me Steve, never joke with Natasha." Bucky held up his good hand. Steve took it and pulled him to his feet. "At least, not when she's pissed off at me."

"Words to live by," Clint said as Steve helped Bucky limp to the showers.

***

"We should get back to Tony," Steve said after Bucky showered and dressed. "He's upset."

"Huh. You can feel that?" Bucky adjusted the joint on his metal arm again and frowned at the squeak. 

"No. I don't think so." Sometimes Steve got feelings, all right, but he couldn't always tell whether they were his own, or his imagination or possibly something to do with the bond. "Maybe I'm upset. Does it matter? I'd feel better if we were with him."

"Yeah, all right." Bucky put his hand on Steve's arm. "Look, just because he's got cock-eyed ideas..."

Steve frowned. "I can understand some of it. It doesn't matter. What does matter is getting past this. Right now we're all raw and walking on eggshells. Even Natasha. She was... I could see her picking her words. Buck, we can't screw this up again."

Bucky nodded.

***

Bruce met them on the way back to the living quarters. He stopped directly in front of them and stood there with his arms folded. His eyes and skin flickered with green, and when he spoke his voice was halfway to the depth of the Hulk's. "Don't get in Hulk's way. Hulk LIKE Tony. Hulk LIKE little Tony."

Steve cleared his throat. "Yes, sir. We understand." He really didn't want to fight the Hulk in the tower and break Tony's home.

Bruce grunted and pushed past them. Halfway down the hall he looked over his shoulder and spoke in his normal voice. "Maybe you shouldn't get too close to me the next time we're called out."

Bucky blinked, but waited until Bruce had disappeared around the corner before he spoke. "Is it just me, or is it weird that everyone's _more_ angry with us now than before we made up with Tony?"

"It's weird." Steve frowned. "I don't know, maybe they were just pretending not to be angry because they didn't want the team to break up."

"The Hulk doesn't have brains enough to pretend."

"Looks like he does. We've been taking people at face value and missing a lot of things, Buck."

"So, they've been pissed at us all along and now we're getting the bill, with interest."

"Pretty much."

"Well, all right, then. I never liked owing anyone."

Jarvis's 'attention' chime sounded. Steve could hear echoes as if all the speakers in the area were going at once. That usually meant a mission alert, but not combined with the chime rather than the alarm. His confusion only lasted a few seconds. Jarvis said, "Mr. Stark requests your presence in the main room on the communal level for an Avenger's Family Discussion." Steve could hear the capitals.

Bucky said, "Oh, this should be fun."


	4. TONY

Tony felt like the matriarch in a stupid Omega soap opera as his extended family began gathering. Or possibly a gangster movie, where everyone comes in and kneels before the godfather. Only without the kneeling.

Please, god, no kneeling. He was _not_ the matriarch in a fantasy Omega-hive. But it sure felt that way when everyone came in and sat around him on the Hulk, god, and super-soldier rated couches, with Rhodey's image hovering against the far wall, so Rhodey could see everyone. There were a few greetings, but everyone was looking at Tony. 

Tony grabbed a bag of dried cherries, for something to do with his hands. "I know we've all got better things to do, so let's try to make this short. Rhodey told me that all my friends are out to punish my husbands for events and actions I don't want to go into, ever again. Is he right?"

"Well." Bruce took off his glasses, polished them with the tail of his shirt and then put them back on. "Speaking for the Other Guy, you know... he maybe won't be too careful what he smashes. For a while."

Tony winced. "You're kidding, I hope?" He held out the cherries to Bruce who took a few and ate them before answering.

"The Other Guy's been mad at them all along but at least they were staying away from you. He's..." Bruce looked down at the floor. "He's afraid for you. You know. Going back."

"Oh." Put in that light, Tony understood. Bruce's mother had probably had chances to leave his father, but she'd stayed to die at the hands of her Alpha. "It's not like that, Bruce." From the appalled look on Steve's face, he knew what Bruce meant. Bucky was clueless, but taking his cue from Steve. The two of them had chosen to sit at a corner couch, a little apart from everyone else like the defendants in criminal court. Tony wanted to yell that no one was on trial here. It really was a good thing he wasn't an Omega matriarch.

"I'd never," Steve said. Tony could see his throat move as he swallowed. "I know you don't have much reason to trust me with Tony, but please..."

Tony hated seeing Steve beg, that was what he'd been trying to avoid. It made him sick to his stomach. "Bruce, no. Really, I know you're all looking at me and thinking I'm letting Steve and Bucky off the hook too easy, but this is what I _chose_ and I know what I'm doing! I don't want them hurt to make up for me being hurt. It doesn't work that way."

Rhodey spoke up then. "We're your friends, Tony. We've got rights, too! So, ok, I won't beat Captain America and the Winter Soldier to a pulp, but Pepper and I deserve to take a few shots at them. C'mon, be fair."

Tony closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "On what planet is it fair to ask me to allow people to beat up my husbands?"

Thor leaned close and took a handful of cherries. "It would be acceptable on Asgard. I could ask the All-Father for permission to hold a holmgang... not to the death, of course. I am certain Lady Sif would gladly outfit Lady Pepper for the battle." He beamed at Tony. 

Tony stared at Thor, and then looked around at the circle of friends... family... and he laughed. "Oh, this is my family. I found it, all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good."

Clint stared at Tony. "Did you just quote a Disney movie?"

"Yeah, figured I might as well get used to family entertainment." Tony patted his belly. "I want my kids growing up in a happy home. Or at least, you know, a place where the only ones who get yelled at are supervillains."

"All right," Pepper said, using her magical powers of CEO to gather a silent consensus. "We'll all behave like civilized people. Won't we, Happy?"

"Sure thing, Pepper," Happy said. He picked up a pair of walnuts from a bowl on the table and cracked them in one hand while staring at Steve. "Whatever the boss wants."

Tony sighed. Natasha smirked at him, actually smirked, as she got up and patted Tony on the belly. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Good luck. I think we're going to need it."


	5. BUCKY

"Can I come in, or are your bots gonna whack me over the head and dump me in the furnace?" Bucky stood outside Tony's workshop an hour after the family meeting, looking warily through the glass wall at Dummy who was waving a fire extinguisher in his general direction. Tony had his back to Bucky, and was doing something Bucky would classify as 'goofing around' with glowing lines and blobs. At least Bruce wasn't there. 

Tony turned from the schematic he was tweaking and rolled his eyes. "Dummy, down boy." The bot whined and lowered the extinguisher before rolling back past Tony to collect a pat. "Don't mind Dummy, his aim is lousy anyway."

Bucky entered the workshop. "So, you said you wanted to look at my arm again."

"Yeah." Tony shoved a rolling chair in Bucky's direction. "I need to take it off, and scan the stump. I'm betting they slapped the neural interface together at random and congratulated themselves because you didn't poke your eye out when saluting. I hate sloppy work."

"You sure know how to sweet talk a guy." Bucky sat down, although he really didn't like the idea of being literally disarmed. He eyed the roll of tools Tony spread out on a workbench."You do know that I'm not a robot."

"Uh huh." Tony looked down at the tools and picked up something sorta like a silver screwdriver. "Take off your shirt and then extend your arm straight out to the side." Tony pushed a small table next to Bucky, raising it and locking it just under Bucky's arm once he had done that. "Hmm..." Tony ducked down and poked at the underside of the metal arm just past the point where it joined his flesh. Bucky could hear the 'tink tink'. "How's that feel?"

"It doesn't. I have fairly good pressure sense in the hand itself, though."

"How about temperature and pain?"

Bucky shook his head. "No."

"Well, that's not gonna fly." Tony came around and stood in front of Bucky. "Ok, we've got two choices here. I can upgrade just the basic fit and the mechanics, which, hey, could do that in my sleep. Make it stronger, faster, more comfortable, reliable, prettier, even. Or I could bring Bruce in on it, and we could play mad scientist, using stimulation to identify and map your still functional motor and sensory nerves and use that map to code more natural responses in the arm through an artificial neural net. I'm pretty sure the mapping would hurt like a son of a bitch, and the end result wouldn't have anything like the sensitivity of human skin, but you'd be able to tell when someone pats your arm or hits you with a snowball. If that sort of thing appeals to you."

"I'm a soldier, I don't need any fancy frills to do my job."

"You're not a soldier." Tony was suddenly angry. Bucky picked up the scent instantly, and weirdly, instead of making him angry at Tony, it made him look around for a threat _to_ Tony. Tony lifted his chin sharply. "None of us are soldiers."

"What are we, then?" Bucky would like to know, he really would. 

"We're... first responders. Firemen. The paramedic who keeps your heart going. The cop who stands between you and the bad guy. Hell, the lifeguard who drags your stupid ass out of the undertow even though he'd warned you not to go swimming. We're not soldiers."

"Fury thinks so."

"Yeah, Fury. That's the guy I really want to listen to after he dumped you here without a word of warning to Steve." Tony poked at Bucky with the screwdriver. "You think that was an accident? He wanted to make sure Steve didn't have a chance to talk to me first. He didn't like me corrupting his super soldier and basically, Fury hates my guts. I don't kiss up to him and I don't take his orders. He jumped at the chance to smack me down and make Steve grateful to him, all in one move."

Bucky thought Tony was being paranoid. Probably his hormones were out of whack. But on the bright side, at least he wasn't accusing Bucky of being in cahoots with Fury. "Yeah, well, all water under the bridge now. Right? We're good?"

"Goodish." Tony stepped back and twiddled the screwdriver between his fingers. "So, do you want the basic version, or the hot rod deluxe? Spinning rims, today on special."

Bucky could recognize an olive branch when it was shoved under his nose, so he pushed aside the cold clench in his gut at the thought of being taken apart. "I always liked livin' dangerously. Jazz it up the wazoo." From the way Tony brightened, that was obviously the best answer. Bucky only hoped he didn't wind up with hootchie-cootchie dancers painted on his arm.


	6. FURY

"Acknowledged, Agent Romanov. Continue to monitor the situation and keep me apprised of any changes." Fury made sure the communication link to Natasha was shut before he reached for his new best friend, a length of thin wire, and slipped it into his cast to scratch at his arm. He was still angry at himself for allowing the medic to inject him with pain meds before resetting the bone. He'd known that always affected his judgement, and he also knew that neither Hill nor Coulson had been nearby to give him a reality check. So what if the battle was over? That didn't mean he could relax. He should have known better. The moment you relax, fate bites you in the ass. What were the odds the next bed over in the infirmary would hold Rogers' original bondmate, memory restored and looking so pretty and so sad when he asked after 'his Steve' that Fury's hard heart melted a little. All those Omegas and their fucking big, Bambi, eyes.

Maybe he would have done the same thing, cold sober, even if advised against it. He'd been assuming all along that Stark hadn't really bonded with Rogers. After all, they hadn't even been able to be in the same room together for weeks. He'd thought he was doing them all a fucking favor. Alphas and Omegas. Fucking delicate snowflakes. He just wanted them all to work together as a fighting unit, not go all gooey and romantic. So now he had a pregnant pissy snowflake at the epicenter of a Tower of Emotion. 

Natasha had tried to put a positive spin on it, but Jesus... shovel talks, his heroes wallowing in teenage angst and melodrama? What the hell? Stark, Rogers and Barnes in a bond-triad? No way _that_ wouldn't go up in flames. This is what came of dealing with the snowflakes as if they were rational Betas.

He grunted and pulled out the wire, shoving it back into his desk drawer before he stood up. On top of everything else, he still had Loki moping around the helicarrier and Rhodes 'keeping him company'. It was a helicarrier, not a honeymoon hotel. The little shit had been so meekly emo and pitiful Omega that Fury couldn't even get yell at him without feeling like a puppy-stomper. Loki's daddy was judging all of Earth by how they treated the brat, so Fury couldn't just disappear him into some quiet corner, but neither could he _not_ punish him, because that would make Earth look weak. Fucking Omegas, they should handle their own...

He paused. His lips twitched into a semblance of a grin. That would be beautiful. Put the Loki-cat amongst the Avenger-pigeons. They could be responsible for him and if he stirred any shit, they'd be on hand to stop it. Also, Odin would probably be pleased that Thor would be right there for his baby brother. What could possibly go wrong with putting all his eggs in one basket with the rotten apple?

Eh. Well, he knew what he meant. Welcome to the Avengers, Loki. And hey, two-fer deal, the Air Force hadn't wanted Loki, so they'd have to give up War Machine. If he had to recruit an Alpha, Rhodes would have been one of his first choices.

Fury was so pleased with himself he decided to get a Danish. To hell with his waistline.


	7. BRUCE

"Hey."

Bruce looked up from his book. Bucky was standing in the corridor just outside the library. "Yes?" Bruce said, in as neutral a tone as he could manage. The Other Guy grumbled, but didn't seem likely to emerge.

"D'ya mind if I talk with you?"

"If it's about Hulk, I already gave you my best advice; stay clear of him." Bruce gave Bucky a false smile. "You know how it is, big guys are clumsy."

Bucky shook his head and entered the library, despite Bruce's lack of welcome. He sat down on a chair facing Bruce and leaned forward as if imparting a secret. "Look, I know you don't think much of me. I..."

Bruce interrupted him. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to get mad at you and ruin a really nice library. There are signed first editions of Malory's King Arthur here. Did you know Tony had a thing for King Arthur?"

"No. No, I didn't know anything about Tony. I'm trying to get to know him."

"For Steve's sake? Because Steve loves Tony you think you must have misjudged him?"

Bucky laughed. "Hell no. I thought Tony was a good-looking smart ass who didn't deserve Steve. Because, you know," he pointed to himself, "that's Steve's type. Tony's like a flashier, richer, smarter version of me."

Bruce sighed. "So, you came here to ask me to tell you what Tony's like? You do know, I'm not that kind of doctor?"

"No, I got side-tracked there. I'll figure Tony out on my own. What I came to tell you is that Tony wants you to help him fix up my arm. I wanted you to have time to think about it. Tony said it would hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, if that helps motivate you."

"I don't like hurting people."

Bucky shrugged. "Ok, then I guess it's a no-go." Bucky stood up. "See you around."

"Wait." Bruce took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What does Tony plan to do, exactly?"

"I didn't catch all the sciency words, but he said you could figure out which nerves were still working and then he could make it so I could feel if someone touches my arm, and if it's cold. Stuff like that." He shrugged again. "Fancy frills. Lot of people missing a wing get along without that."

"Yeah." Bruce felt like a rat. Bucky was making an attempt to get along, and really, they did have to try to learn to tolerate each other. But he didn't feel kindly enough to say that. "If Tony can give you sensation in an artificial limb, the technology could help other people."

"Huh, there's a thought," Bucky said, with a far too innocent expression on his face.

Bruce laughed. "All right, well played. I'll go talk to Tony." He paused. "And I'll do my best to keep the pain to the minimum."

"Thanks, Doc."


	8. BUCKY

Everything was still a mess, but it was getting better. Natasha and Clint were almost friendly now and Tony's chauffeur hadn't tried to run Bucky over with the limo in several days, which he took for a good sign. Jury was still out on the others. Thor was a sly bastard; Bucky suspected he could control his scent. S.I. and Loki kept Pepper and Rhodey busy, but they checked up on Tony on the phone regularly. Maybe he really did need to be reminded to take his vitamins every day. Maybe.

"It's all right, Steve, you don't have to be there," Bucky said as he chose a sleeveless pullover shirt for the first day's testing. Bruce had done all sorts of painless, non-invasive scans over the last week and the novelty of being a science project had long since worn off. At this point Bucky didn't care how much the next stage was going to hurt, just so he could get this over with and not be bored out of his skull any longer. Tony had already vanished into the lab, but Bucky and Steve had gone to the gym to spar. An hour's workout relaxed him enough that he wouldn't be jumping out of his skin while he had to lie still for the big, freaky machine they were going to put him into. At least he hoped he wouldn't. "I don't _want_ you to be there."

"You're my Omega, too, Buck." Steve looked more than a little lost. Most things were out of his control these days. That was hard on any Alpha.

"This is gonna hurt." Bucky pulled on the shirt. "It has to hurt, that's the whole point. And you'll want to stop the hurting."

"I won't. I can control myself." Steve rubbed at his neck. "I know I put on a pretty poor showing before, but I'm better now. A lot more stable since we've been together."

"Yeah." The three of them hadn't had much sex, not what Bucky thought of as _real_ sex, since they started the triple bond, but they had slept together every night. Touched and tasted and scented each other, cuddled and held each other through nightmares. None of them liked to talk about the dreams, but a few words slipped out from time to time. It was weird how many elements they had in common; cold, and confinement, pain and torture, being experimented on, failure and loss. 

Sometimes there were hand jobs or blow jobs, or just rubbing off, but they still didn't feel comfortable enough for the more intimate Alpha/Omega knot-sex. Tony hadn't even wanted to top them. Bucky was developing protective 'uncle-Omega' feelings towards Tony and the unborn babies which made him hypersensitive to Tony's distress scents, so he hadn't pushed for anything more. Steve's Alpha protective instincts were racheted up to the point that sometimes he just had to smash the shit out of something, or burst. It was going to get better, it had to. He really wished Tony had let them clear the air properly. It wasn't so bad for him; he'd had to learn patience as a sniper, but it was tough on Steve.

"You're gonna prove how stable you are, by staying away. I gotta do this without you, Steve. I can't... We can't put the clock back."

Steve sighed. "It's hard. You were always there for me." Then he smiled and ruffled Bucky's hair. "How about I come by in a couple hours with donuts and coffee?"

"Sneaky, Steve. I approve." 

 

 _Don't tense, don't move, don't breathe too hard,_ Bucky kept telling himself. It wasn't as claustrophobic as it could have been, since the top of the cylinder he was lying in was open by his face, and cool air was blowing along it, but he had underestimated just how difficult lying absolutely still while he was being hurt would be. There was a movie playing holographically where he could see it, but the distraction just wasn't enough. He had to keep forcing his muscles not to spasm which would put either his head or his shoulder out of alignment with the sensors.

"Do you need a break?" Bruce asked. He sounded sympathetic, and Bucky found that he was grateful for that. It made it different from his nightmares. They'd been efficient in Department X whenever they treated him for injuries, but never sympathetic.

"Would we have to start over?"

"What we've already mapped is stored, but we would have to re-calibrate," Tony said over the comm from the shielded booth at the other side of the lab. Even though he swore there was no chance the machine gave off anything that could harm his babies he hadn't argued when Bruce insisted they spend the extra day making the booth secure.

"Yeah, thought so. I'm good. I'm fine." Calibration hadn't been fun. He didn't understand what they were doing even though both Bruce and Tony had tried to explain it. He _did_ understand that the calibration had been like sticking his entire shoulder into fire. By comparison the needle-fine bursts of hot/cold, pressure/release, tingling/tickling, vibration/itching, sharp pain/dull pain that slowly traveled over his stump, and his brain's response to the stimulation, weren't so bad. He closed his eyes and thought how nice it would be to pick up a cup of coffee and know it was hot. He tried not to think about more intimate touching. Snowballs. Yeah. He'd like to make snowballs and feel the crisp, cold crunch.

He had no idea how long he spent thinking of things to do with a more sensitive arm, but the end credits were running on the movie when the low murmur back and forth between Tony and Bruce stopped, and the annoying soft hum of the machine cut off. He smelled something that wasn't mechanical or medicinal.

"Got it!" Tony said over the comm. Bucky heard the door of the isolation booth open at the same time the cylinder slid back out, releasing Bucky. "Break time," Tony said, in his own voice. 

Bucky sat up with Bruce's assistance. He felt a little weird and trembly after so long lying down, so he was glad of the hand. Also, it was nice that Steve saw Bruce willingly touching him without greening. "Hey, Steve!" Bucky waved.

"How's it goin', guys?" Steve asked as he set down his load of boxes. Two different types of boxes, Bucky noticed.

["Donut robot!"](http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/06/donut-machine-making-donuts-a-morning-with-606-rd-in-prospect-heights-slideshow.html#show-333344) Tony crowed gleefully, opening one box to extract a cinnamon sugar donut from a box evenly divided between plain, cinnamon and powdered sugar coated donuts. 

"You went to two shops?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, I couldn't get everything I wanted at [ 606 R&D](http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/06/donut-machine-making-donuts-a-morning-with-606-rd-in-prospect-heights.html). Steve grinned. "All these new-fangled machines are really somethin' though."

Tony gave Steve a good-natured eyeroll. "606 bought the 'robot' from Dreesen's who'd been using it since 1950."

Steve nodded. "That's just what I mean! New-fangled."

Bucky thought Steve was trying a little too hard, but then so was Tony. He went over to the boxes labeled 'Dough Loco' and opened them. In contrast to the home-style understated robot donuts, these were covered in a variety of brightly colored glazes. "What are these?"

Steve pointed at each donut in turn. "Miso maple sugar, Blood orange and poppyseed, Brown butter crumb pineapple, Banana-curry, Chocolate frosted, and Rosemary blueberry."

"Nice," Bruce acknowledged as he took the Banana-curry. "I'll just turn on the coffee machine. Decaf for you, Tony."

"Yeah, yeah." Tony finished the donut he had in his hand and took the Rosemary Blueberry. After a bite he said, "You remember when I told you that you could go on midnight runs for raspberry walnut brickle ice cream? Changed my mind, you can wake up this shop and have them run off a batch of these beauties."


	9. RHODEY

"Hey, Jarvis," Rhodey said as he landed on the disassembly balcony. The ring containing the grapplers rose, but didn't start spinning. "Can I come in? I promise to wipe my feet."

"War Machine protocol is loaded. You may proceed at your convenience," Jarvis told him. "Sir is presently in the main lab."

Rhodey started walking. The machinery went along with him, peeling him out of the suit a whole lot easier than the set up the Air Force had for him. "He's not working on anything with chemicals, is he?" He was sure Tony wouldn't deliberately do anything putting his babies at risk, but Tony was used to getting caught up in projects without thinking about safety considerations. He'd seen the video the bots had taken of Tony first attempt at repulsor flight. How he hadn't broken his back was beyond Rhodey. God must love lunatics, was all he could think. "Or anything dangerous?"

"His present project does not involve hazardous materials. Sir is engaged in designing a prosthesis for Barnes with Dr. Banner's assistance." Jarvis put a little emphasis on 'Barnes'.

"Huh. You still don't like the guy? Didn't Tony tell you to lay off him and Rogers?" Rhodey didn't trust Tony's judgement, but he was making an effort to be neutral about Tony's bonding. It was Tony's choice, and maybe Rhodey understood Rogers a little better now after being bonded for a while. When Loki wanted something the temptation to say 'Sure!' without thinking about how the request affected other people was strong. He didn't know how it felt from the Omega side, of course, but Loki did put up with living in a cell after having been a spoiled prince, so that said something about how important Rhodey was to him.

"My instructions were imprecise."

"Yeah, and you like it that way." Rhodey grinned and shook out his shoulders when the last pieces of armor vanished below the floor, taken away to be cleaned, polished and quite possibly tutted over. Jarvis had a mind of his own. "Can I go into the lab without interrupting anything important?"

"Yes. Captain Rogers brought donuts." 

Rhodey thought that Jarvis sounded more impressed than a box of donuts deserved. "And that's enough to get you on his side? You're a cheap date." Rhodey headed for the private elevator and let it read his biosignature. Tony had been really annoyed the time Pepper authorized workmen to use it during construction. Apparently workman sweat was far more offensive than 'Tony on a three day inventing binge' sweat.

"You could not afford me," Jarvis said, with a haughty tone.

Rhodey laughed, but his good mood vanished when he got off the elevator, and heard Tony talking with the others. It all sounded friendly, and he hated to spoil the moment.

"Pudding cup!" Tony waved a donut at Rhodey. "Jarvis said you were coming. I saved you a butter crumb pineapple."

"Thanks, Tones." Rhodey took the donut. He looked at it, and then at Captain Rogers. He cleared his throat. "This isn't just a social visit. Fury sent me."

Tony frowned. "Wait, since when did Fury take over the Air Force? Not that I'm saying I'd put it past him, but hasn't he run out of fingers to put in other people's pies?"

Rhodey resisted the urge to make a smart comeback. "I've been officially reassigned to a special unit nominally under Fury's command. The Air Force figured that War Machine wasn't worth the Loki-baggage that comes with him." Rhodey took a bite of donut and waited for the penny to drop.

"Nominally?" Rogers asked. "So, you aren't becoming agents for SHIELD. And since Fury sent you to us..."

"Yeah," Rhodey said, swallowing donut through a suddenly dry throat. "He wants you to make me and Loki Avengers."

Bruce coughed. "Excuse me? Loki? How is this going to work exactly? He's under house arrest on the helicarrier, isn't he?"

"And still under sentence of whatever, whenever they can figure out what punishment meets the crime," Tony said. He was drinking something that looked and smelled like coffee and Rhodey had to stop his hand from reaching out to grab it. Tony wasn't his, never had been, and neither were the babies he was carrying. It was probably decaf and if it wasn't, well that was Tony's decision. Even though he tended to make a lot of stupidass choices.

"Yeah, well," Rhodey said, "Fury talked to Odin and apparently they saw eye to eye..."

Tony groaned. "That was terrible."

"What? Oh. No, I'm not joking." Rhodey put the remainder of the donut down on the table, and brushed crumbs off his hands. Only after he did that he realized he was clearing the deck for battle. "He convinced Odin that the best atonement would be for Loki to protect the people he'd threatened, and that I'd keep him from getting too far out of line."

"So," Barnes said as he scratched his stump, which Rhodey figured he'd done just to unnerve. "So, how does this work? Steve calls an Assemble and you two show up?"

Rhodey cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorta. Fury wants us to be housed with the rest of the Avengers."

"No!" Rogers snapped, "That's not acceptable!" He moved swiftly, placing himself between Tony and Rhodey. That didn't surprise Rhodey, but the fact that Barnes was moving to flank Rogers, side angled so his arm was leading, even before Rogers spoke, _did_ surprise him.

"HEY!" Tony shouted, "My Tower! My decision!"

Rogers glanced at Tony. "You can't want Loki living here."

"Why not?" Tony replied. "If he decides rehabilitation isn't his thing, isn't it better he should be here, where we've got a chance of stopping him? He took over the helicarrier once already, so their track record's not great."

"You just want Rhodes here," Rogers said. He didn't shout it, didn't even sound angry.

"And what if I do?" Tony had his chin lifted, but Rhodey could see that defying his Alpha wasn't pleasant or easy. "He's my oldest and best friend. And this is my home."

Rogers' scowl deepened, but then he nodded. "Yeah. It's yours. I don't like this, but you're right. This isn't my place." 

Tony softened visibly. "Look, I hate to do anything Fury suggests, on general principles, but this does actually make sense. But we all live here, so I'm willing to listen to sensible counter-arguments. Anyone really thinks it's better leaving Loki under Fury's thumb than here, and can convince me, then ok, I'll turn him down. But I need more than 'you've got buns in the oven, Tony and I don't want him near you.' "

Rhodey said, "Thor is all for it, and Agents Barton and Romanov have already told the Director that they'll comply with his request." Even if it hadn't been phrased as a request, Rhodey was fairly sure they felt like Tony did. It made him uncomfortable to think that his bonded wasn't trusted by anyone. He loved the stupid bastard, but he had to admit that for anyone else, it would be an acquired taste. 

Banner shrugged and said, "Sure. Why not." He showed his teeth in a not-smile. "Loki hasn't met the Other Guy."

"Tony," Rogers started to protest, but he shook his head. "Agreed. But if I have to take Loki out, Colonel Rhodes, I'll do it even if it means going over your dead body."

Rhodey nodded. "Let's hope it never comes to that, Captain Rogers." Rhodey had a lot of admiration for Captain America's fighting prowess, but up against War Machine? Wouldn't stand a chance.

"Bucky?" Tony asked.

"What? Oh, hey, I get a vote? Sure, fine, I don't have to share a bathroom with the guy, what do I care?"

Rhodey didn't buy Barnes' nonchalance for a second, but all he needed was permission, not a welcome wagon. "Great."


	10. LOKI

Fury had actually smiled at Loki. That was enough to set his nerves on edge. Rhodey had promised to return soon, but at the moment, he was alone. The man was dangerous, even with one arm in a cast. Midgardians were fragile, physically, but Fury was clever and ruthless and Beta-practical. "You understand this, Loki," Fury leaned in close. "I don't believe you're all sweetness and light, reformed by love. Colonel Rhodes is a good man, but he's not paranoid. He may not notice you getting up to your old tricks. That's one reason I'm handing you over to the Avengers. They don't trust me. They don't trust the government. They don't even trust _each other_. Step one inch out of line and I guarantee you they'll come down on your pointy head like a ton of bricks."

Loki held his head high, and refused to allow himself to be intimidated. 

"I hope you're taking this in. Really let it sink right down your bones. Because if you fuck up, your daddy and your big brother aren't going to be able to help you. I want your ass to stay out of trouble and off my helicarrier. If I wind up with custody again, neither of us is gonna be happy."

"I assure you, Director, as congenial a host as you've been, I have no desire to further impose on you." Loki itched to pick the Beta up by the neck and throw him across the room, but he wouldn't. It didn't matter what a Beta thought of him. He had his Alpha. He had a chance to fit in, to be accepted in a world where snowmen are beloved, and even have heroic sagas.

"Good." Fury straightened and left Loki's cell. 

It was wrong for Betas to strut and issue orders to an Omega-prince, but Loki kept a bland expression for the benefit of his guards and the machines that always watched. From what Rhodey had said, in Stark's domain things were more sensibly ordered. At least he hoped so. It had sounded as if the Tower revolved around Stark's needs and wishes. A pregnant Omega-king should be most important. It was comforting to know that not all Midgardians had their priorities backwards. Alphas as leaders? Absurd.

His mate was a close confidant of King Stark, which was all to the good. He would never have the instinctual understanding to rule Midgard on his own; he had gradually realized that once the extent of the realm became known to him. It wasn't simply more vast than Asgard and Jotunheim combined, but also more complex, with so many subset and contradictory societies that finding a middle ground would be impossible. Stark's empire alone encompassed far more people than Asgard. While Loki would not rule, if he was careful he could rise in Stark's estimation and become a properly honored prince in a world where he wasn't instinctively despised.

 

Loki heard Rhodey approaching long before he saw him. He remembered the sound of War Machine even though he'd only seen Rhodey in the armor once. It excited him. His mate was one of the most powerful warriors in the realm and Loki had always gravitated towards power. 

War Machine stopped in front of Loki's cell. He was accompanied by the Omega named Coulson, for whom Loki had developed a sneaking admiration. He was fairly sure Coulson could have taken control of at least a mid-size Midgardian nation, but he seemed disinterested in power. Rhodey took off his helmet and smiled at Loki. "Hey, it's all set. Jarvis is turning down the sheets now."

Loki had also heard of Stark's immaterial servitor. That had impressed him far more than armor. He stood up and approached the glass door of his cell. Coulson unlocked it and stood back, giving him room to pass. "Whose sheets? Please don't tell me we shall be sharing quarters with my brother."

Rhodey laughed and threw an armored arm around his shoulders. "No, there's one thing about Tony, the man doesn't economize. We'll have our own floor. Right now there's not much in it, but I figured we didn't want to wait for furniture."

"If it means leaving this delightful place, I'd gladly sleep on rocks."

Rhodey ruffled Loki's hair. He was beginning to enjoy little affectionate touches and leaned into the caress for a moment. "It'll be fine," Rhodey told him. "Hey, I could borrow a chopper, but then we'd have to take along another pilot to return it. Or we could go War Machine Air. It's bumpy and noisy, but fun."

"That has a familiar ring." Loki smirked at the put-upon expression on Coulson's face. He had no sense of humor. "I'm always ready to ride you, Rhodey."

Coulson said dryly, "Yes, I can see that you and Mr. Stark will get along quite well." He turned and walked away. "Good day, gentlemen. Kindly do not drop Loki on the flight deck, Colonel Rhodes. It's just been swabbed."


	11. THOR

"Brother! Welcome!" Thor strode out to the balcony and picked Loki up in a hug the instant War Machine had landed, ignoring Loki's protests and pounding on his back. "It will be good to have you fighting at my side once more!"

Loki gave Thor a quick pat on the back before squirming free. Thor was heartened; that was the most affectionate Loki had been with him in years. The rest of the Avengers were gathered in the main room, watching through the glass wall. They had reason to be wary, but Thor wasn't going to make the same mistake he had with the Warriors Three. He'd assumed that since Loki didn't complain about being tolerated rather than accepted that it hadn't bothered him; that Loki didn't care for Thor's friends or particularly want their friendship. Thor felt he'd been selfish, keeping Loki's rare smiles for himself. 

No one else knew the Loki he remembered, the wide-eyed child who had toddled after his big brother and looked up to him. Thor grinned and dragged Loki around, with his arm about his brother's shoulders. "We shall have a feast!" His brother's bondmate had emerged from his armor and led the way into Stark's Tower. It wasn't anything like the towers of Asgard, but that was probably for the best in Loki's eyes. He would not have unhappy memories brought to mind by the unadorned and very severe surroundings. A fresh start would be good for him. 

Loki's back was stiff under Thor's arm. The wariness went both ways. "Thor, I wish to make my courtesies to King Stark. Properly." Loki gave Thor the same look he always did when he felt Thor was being uncouth.

"Of course, of course, brother." Thor let Loki precede him. He noticed that Rhodey gave Loki the dignity of choosing his own path, staying close enough to be supportive without hovering over him. Thor approved wholeheartedly of Loki's mate. A strong warrior, and a decent man, but most important, Loki was happy with him.

Stark was standing in front of his bondmates. Thor had never been as good at picking up emotional scents as Loki, but Rogers' stormy expression and Barnes darkly lowered brows told him well enough how little they liked that. On Midgard it seemed that Omegas were expected to defer to their mates in matters of home defense. It was well that his Clint had no such foolish ideas, taking up a position at a distance from Thor, and at an angle that showed that while he didn't trust Loki, he trusted Thor to take care of himself. True, Stark was carrying, and his health was less than robust, (and while Thor tried not to comment on it, the fact was that Stark was _tiny_ ), but a king had his pride. Thor couldn't imagine Odin hiding behind _anyone_ when greeting a new member of the court.

Loki went down on one knee before Stark, and bent his neck. "My life in your service, my liege. Do you accept?"

Thor was astonished. He had not thought Loki would make a full obeisance, far less an unconditional vow of support. Thor hadn't done that- it would have severed his bonds to Odin. It struck him that Loki must regard his exile to Midgard as permanent.

Stark looked down at Loki and frowned, and then up at Thor. "I... got nothing. What am I supposed to do, whack him with the flat of a sword and name him a knight of the realm?" 

"If you wish. You need not accept his service. A guesting needs not formality." Thor could see the stiffness in the set of Loki's shoulders. "But if you accept, Loki will be bound to be your man, and put your service above his own desires, even, should it happen, his own life."

Banner had been standing well apart from the others. He cleared his throat, drawing Thor's attention. "He'd really do that, do you think? He does have a reputation for being... well, 'silver-tongued'."

"A trickster," Romanov said quietly. Thor could not see any weapons, but he knew she would have come armed for this meeting. 

Thor's bondmate said nothing, but he knew Clint agreed with them. People had died because of Loki. Mjolnir had revived Coulson, but others were not so fortunate. Thor loved his brother, but he knew Loki had earned punishment far more severe than exile and imprisonment. Stark had agreed to allow Loki to his home in large part to please Thor; he was sure of that. He would do his best to make this work for all of them. "Loki has never before made a vow," Thor said, trying to make them understand the seriousness of the offer. "It would have been easier for him to give his pledge to Odin, but he told me his heart was never in it. I do not think he would do so now if he did not mean to honor it."

Stark nodded. "That makes sense." He patted Loki on the shoulder. "Rise, Sir Loki. Care for a drink? I can't have any, but I still enjoy playing mixologist." He turned and headed for the bar without waiting for Loki's response.

Loki stood up and looked at his bondmate in apparent confusion. Thor felt a little sad that he was no longer his brother's first confidant, but that was the way things should be. Rhodey smiled, "He said, 'yes'. You're gonna need a Tony translator for a while, I think."

"The Allspeak does have its limitations," Loki replied. He went with Rhodey over to the bar where Stark was setting out one of the mild, but pleasant, drinks known as 'boilermakers' probably because Thor had expressed a liking for them.

Talk was slow and stilted at first, but after Thor began telling all the most embarrassing stories he could remember of his own childhood, it became easier. The time the goat ate the clasp from his favorite cloak because he carelessly left it flung over the stable door and Odin decreed that his punishment was to wait upon the goat until the clasp made its natural reappearance always made Loki laugh.


	12. LOKI

The discord would have been obvious to even a Beta, so for an Omega prince the jagged edges of King Stark's court were a constant irritant. There was a veneer of courtesy, but beneath that the relationships between Stark's bondmates, Stark, and the others... well, it reminded him of his days in Asgard given the title of 'family' but having the actual status of 'tolerated outsider'. Rogers and Barnes tried so hard to avoid offense, it was embarrassing. As King's mates, they should be confident and relaxed.

He waited with as much patience as he could for several weeks, hoping the situation would resolve itself. The court had gradually begun to accept him, in part because Stark valued intelligence and wit, which only made the subtle shifts in scent whenever Stark's bondmates were present all the more disconcerting. Rhodey wouldn't even hint at the cause, saying that he was no gossip. And then he'd distract Loki with sex, which was admittedly extremely distracting. 

After the third week he gave up on subtlety and went to Thor's quarters while Thor's little Alpha was off on a mission and his own splendid Alpha was arguing with the King about modifications to his armor. "Brother!" Thor cried out and hugged him, as if he hadn't seen Loki in days. He seemed to have some idea that Loki was behind on his quota of physical affection. It... didn't bother Loki that much.

"Thor," Loki said. If he replied 'brother' there'd be far too much emotion going around. "Have you a moment to discuss matters of the court?"

"Of course." Thor led the way to a comfortable couch. "What do you wish to know?"

Loki picked up a piece of candied fruit. King Stark had a liking for such and Loki was developing a taste for it as well. He ate the tidbit before replying. "Why are the royal consorts at odds with the court?"

Thor sighed. "The saga is a long and distressful one."

"Please, no sagas, Thor. Tell it as you would a battle plan." Thor's sagas, while delightful, often ran for hours, and Loki wished this conversation completed before either of their mates returned. It wasn't that he was being secretive. He was being considerate. This tale obviously made them uncomfortable.

"Very well. Barnes was Rogers' first bond-mate. Rogers thought Barnes dead, and then a misadventure in a frozen wasteland sent him into an Odin-sleep for many years. When he awoke, his skills as warrior were needed, but he had no heart for it."

Loki nodded. An Alpha with a broken bond was severely depressed, everyone knew that. "Go on."

"Director Fury brought Rogers together with Stark." Thor scowled. "Betas. From what I have heard, he had no idea what he was doing and there was no courting. It was... a merchant's bargain. They were told that they could not be warriors unless they bonded."

Loki drew a sharp breath. "This is why Betas should never be in charge."

Thor nodded solemnly. "The match was true, but it was too much, too soon, and with no one with any sense to mediate. It was made worse because Rogers had treatments which made him even more vulnerable to Alpha obsessions than most. They fed on each other until they were rubbed raw and out of control. They almost came to blows."

Loki had never heard such a thing. Bondmates could argue, of course, but unless one of them were insane, it could never reach that point. "Does this often happen with Midgardians?"

"I do not believe so. If it had happened before surely they would have had some better solution than separating them, to allow Rogers' body to settle into the bond properly. As should have been done with proper courting." Thor picked up a handful of fruit and ate it. He was probably thinking how best to describe the events, so Loki didn't push. 

"King Stark was already bearing, but did not realize it," Thor said. "They had both been told by physicians that they could not engender. It was the worst time for bondmates to be apart. Barnes had also been treated as Rogers had been, and also been frozen, frozen many times, and awakened only to be mind-bent and used as an assassin." Thor scratched at his beard. "During the battle on the helicarrier, he regained his memories and Director Fury brought him to Rogers."

"What? This is madness. Throwing a damaged Omega at a deprived Alpha bonded to another?"

"Midgardians." Thor shook his head. "Rogers and Barnes reaffirmed their old bond. Whether out of pride, or the natural avoidance of conflict of a bearing Omega, King Stark made no attempt to fight for his bond. And even if Rogers later regretted tossing Stark aside, Stark claimed that he preferred it that way. That the bond had been restrictive."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Midgardians. So. How did they wind up in an uneasy triad?"

"Tony got knocked up," Clint said from the entrance. Loki was annoyed that he hadn't heard him approach. He turned to watch Clint stow his weapon on a peg and slide onto the couch next to Thor to give him a greeting kiss.

Loki waited, but Clint didn't add anything to his comment. "That's it?"

"Pretty much." Clint shrugged. 

Thor said, as diplomatically as ever, "Rogers and Barnes were united in their desire to support King Stark and his children and Stark accepted them. I offered to host a holmgang, so amends might be made to the court. King Stark denied this for... reasons I do not fully comprehend." He sighed. "It is a difficult situation."

Difficult was hardly the word, Loki thought. A holmgang would allow the King's bondmates to make redress and to prove their worth and serious intent. The rest of the court valued them enough that they probably would survive. Broken bones would heal on their own, but broken trust festers if given time with nothing to lance the boil. "And so we do nothing to uphold the honor of our King?"

Clint coughed. "Yeah. Listen, Stark's ego won't let anyone 'uphold his honor'. Let it go, Loki. It'll get better. We're all trying."

Loki shook his head. "I do not know why this must be so complicated."

"Welcome to Midgard," Clint said.


	13. TONY

Four months. Seventeen weeks and four days to be precise. Tony looked like he'd swallowed the Times Square apple on New Year's Eve. Pepper was stuck with being the public face of S.I. because even on his private jet, traveling any distance at all was a misery for Tony. She was currently in China, sweet talking someone or other, with Happy at her side to give her a little more status. That's what she said, but Tony figured they were making a holiday of it, which he didn't begrudge them. He didn't really want them to see him like this, anyway. They worried and that meant extra doctor's visits. "This is normal," he muttered as he made his way over to the sink to brush his teeth. Steve had scoured every little mom and pop grocery in the vicinity to find toothpaste that didn't nauseate him. He hadn't realized pregnancy was such an all-encompassing profession. Nothing was the same, not even his moods. He found himself talking to mirrors and the babies a lot, which struck him as weird, but eh, his belly, his babies, his mirrors. "Five months to go, and I already look like I'm ready to pop." He brushed slowly, distracted by the movement going on inside of him, which was definitely freaky.

The doctors had repeatedly stressed the need for vigilant monitoring and caution due to Tony's age and general health, but somehow he'd pictured all these blithe young Omegas on 'You're Glowing' pamphlets, cheerfully going grocery shopping with a bubble in their middles, arranging nurseries, making gentle love with their blissed out Alpha mates. Sex was so far from Tony's mind he sometimes wondered if the kids had squashed his nuts. No one told him twins meant he'd gain twice as much weight, and be twice as big as a single baby pregnancy.

He hadn't set foot in the workshop in weeks. He was lucky he'd been able to finish Bucky's new arm before he had to give up working. It wasn't even because he got tired, or felt awkward. He just couldn't stand the smells. Engine oil, grease, solder... he'd lived with them so long he normally didn't even realize they _had_ a scent; now they made him want to puke just _thinking_ about them. He couldn't even give You and Dummy their regular maintenance, but had to explain to Clint how to do it. He missed work, and he missed his bots, and everyone was so damn considerate and understanding it made him want to scream. He actually did that once, and even shed a few tears. "Hormones. Bah." He patted his belly. "You think you've got the upper hand, just wait until you get out into the real world. I'll have Clint and Natasha babysit. You won't make them cry." There was a kick against his hand, and he grinned.

He shuffled back into the bedroom with his slippers going 'shush shush shush' over the carpet, took off his robe and put on thick fuzzy sweatpants. His abs were a thing of the past, but they had held up well enough so he was carrying high. He drummed his fingers on the reactor and frowned at his bulge's proximity to it. He _knew_ it was safe and a few inches wouldn't make any difference anyway, but he still wished they were further away from it. 

He was regularly scanned and tested for so many potential problems that he sometimes thought it would be easier to take a room at the hospital. Thor swore his blessing would do wonders, but it hadn't prevented the nausea, bloating, back pain and pretty much entire upheaval of Tony's body, so not gonna take any chances. 

He put on a soft cotton wraparound shirt printed with cartoon armadillos wandering in a colorful desert, a gift from Rhodey which he'd pretended to hate, but the damn thing was so comfortable he couldn't resist it. He looked at himself in the full length mirror he'd had installed for sexytimes and shrugged. "That's as good as it gets, guys." Bucky and Steve would probably have finished sparring by now. He should go get something to eat before they started nagging him. "What sounds good?" he asked his passengers as he made his cautious way over to the elevator. "Chili pepper and spinach omelet. Garnished with pickle relish. Lemonade over a lot of ice."

Tony got to the main kitchen and began gathering the makings of his snack.

"Go sit down." A pair of hands reached around his belly and took the carton of eggs from him. 

"I can cook," Tony said sulkily. No one let him do anything. 

"You can barely reach the stove," Loki said as he began cracking eggs into a bowl. "Chili and spinach. Do you wish the pickle cooked in it or on the side?"

Resigned to the inevitable, Tony sat at the table. At least Loki didn't make gagging noises at Tony's food choices, or squinch up his face in dignified horror. Who knew what Asgardians ate. Hell, Thor would even eat Pop-tarts when he got hungry enough. "On the side. It gets squishy when it's cooked. And I want lemonade. With ice. Lots of ice." Tony looked sadly at the coffeemaker. "Could you at least make it look like coffee?"

Loki sighed. "I suppose I could." He poured a coffee cup full of lemonade from the pitcher kept handy (Tony's cravings tended to be fairly consistent) and then passed his hand over it. 

Tony took the cup. It was cold, but it looked like coffee, and the illusory curl of steam that rose from it smelled like coffee. It still tasted like ice-cold lemonade, though. "Thanks."

Loki served Tony his meal, and then sat down across from him to work a Sudoko puzzle. Tony was getting used to never having to be alone. It was strange, but pleasant. Although he sometimes wondered if the way people would unexpectedly appear was due to fear that he'd overbalance and fall. No one said anything like that, so he preferred to maintain the illusion that they simply enjoyed his company.

Tony was pushing the last bit of pickle around on his plate and contemplating the logistics of getting up when Steve and Bucky emerged from the elevator, smelling of Neutrogena soap. Sometimes the other Avengers forgot and used scents that made Tony feel sick, but his bondmates never did. He didn't know whether a perfect memory was a super-soldier thing, or if they just had that 1940's 'the pregnant Omega's needs come first' hard-wired into their code. "Hey, guys," Tony said, waving his fork. "Good workout?"

"Yeah." Steve said as he sat down on Tony's left, while Bucky took the right side. That was another thing that was nice, the way they'd get close, and just stay there, all calm and collected. It settled Tony when he was restless, which was most of the time. Atavistic response for the bearing Omega, hypersensitivity that only eases when bondmates are close enough to take care of any potential threats. Biology was ridiculous. Tony was in his Tower. He was safer than 99% of the human race, but he only fully relaxed when he was with Bucky and Steve.

"Steve's been talking about goin' to Coney Island... you know, later," Bucky said. "Show the kids around. Stretch your legs."

Tony nodded. He'd gone out in public a few days ago for what he swore would be the last time until he reclaimed his girlish figure. He'd had to go. The Maria Stark Benefit for Babies had been one of his mother's favorite charities, and right now, Tony was practically the poster Omega. He'd rather have been wearing the Iron Man than a maternity tux, but that was another thing that was temporarily off-limits. He could expand the suit, sure, but to do that he'd have to go to the workshop. And at the rate _he_ was expanding it was futile even if he could work around the nausea. "Sure, we'll make a date for five or six months from now. My social calendar's empty. It's been so boring, I'd almost welcome Doombots on main street."

The Avengers Assemble alarm went off. Tony scowled as everyone scattered to gather up their gear, leaving him sitting here with Loki, who didn't have to move to magic up his armor. "I should know better than to tempt fate." He turned to look at the ongoing sitrep report Jarvis was projecting on all of the smart glass surfaces. Washington, D.C. was under attack by shambling, bulky humanoid creatures? machines? that appeared to be made of rock, if rock were flexible, and had no features except for a broad glowing slit somewhere in the vicinity of where their eyes weren't. They were using that slit to emit destructive beams. Tony didn't see any people in the way, but monuments were taking a beating.

"Indeed you should, Stark," Loki said.

"AWW, hey, I liked that library. What the hell are those things? Rock zombies?"

"They are called the Mindless Ones. They come from the Dark Dimension." Loki was frowning at the creatures. "A portal must have opened."

"Great." Tony looked thoughtful. "You know, I wouldn't want anyone to nuke D.C. but if a few senators fell into the portal, would that really be a bad thing?"

Steve and the other Avengers came into the room in time to hear that. "Yes it would," Steve said, giving Tony a kiss on the cheek. "The paperwork would be horrendous."

"Eh." Tony tried to smile. He hated that he wouldn't be going with them. "That's what I've got Pepper for." He heard the hangar doors opening for the quinjet on the level below and he levered himself up. At least he would follow the action. "Be careful," he said, quietly.

"We will," Bucky replied. "I've got Steve's back." 

Rhodey lifted the faceplate of the War Machine. "I'll keep an eye on your guys, Tony," he said before he headed for the balcony and took off.

Damn hormones. Tony grabbed a napkin and wiped at his eyes. They leaked. It wasn't crying.

Loki paused, looking back at Tony. "I should like to remain with Stark."

Tony knew that wasn't going to fly; Loki was still on the do-not-trust list. Jarvis kept an eye on him, particularly when he was near Tony, and someone always turned up very quickly whenever they were alone together. No one really thought Loki would hurt Tony; he seemed quite serious about offering his fealty, but it was the principle of the thing. Tony's pregnancy made everyone act weird. Thor gave Loki an apologetic look. "We may need your strong right arm, brother," he said, diplomatically. 

"Very well." Loki followed the others into the elevator.

Tony blew his nose and opened his eyes. He yelped and stepped backward. Loki grabbed his elbow to balance him. "What are you doing here?" Tony asked.

"I sent an illusion with the others. I just... have a bad feeling. About you being here alone."

"That's it?" Tony went over to the couch and sat down. His back was killing him. "What if they need you?"

"The Mindless Ones are well named. Brute force works quite well against them. They have no sense at all, much less a sense of strategy."

"Huh. Then how did they wind up in D.C.?"

"Random chance?" Loki shook his head. "Or they are acting under another's direction. Some entities have learned to control them, enough to aim them at a target, at least."

"That's something Steve should know."

"My double has already informed them. Doctor Doom, Dr. Midas, Rorkannu, and Dormammu are the ones I know of, but there may be others. It hardly matters who has sent them, unless their master shows himself as well." Loki sat on the couch next to Tony. 

"Rhodey is going to rochambeau with Steve and Bucky for first rights to kick your ass, you do know that, don't you?" Tony wedged a pillow behind the small of his back. "Just because he loves you doesn't mean he won't be pissed."

"Of course. Shall I get the belly-buds?"

"Yeah, thanks." Tony didn't know if the kids would remember it, but he liked the idea of sharing his music with them. Even though it looked weird sticking the pads to his belly.

 

The quinjet couldn't get up to its maximum speed over New York city, but D.C. was close so the Avengers arrived in less than fifteen minutes and were soon kicking Mindless ass with gratifying efficiency. "Go, team," Tony cheered. It looked as if Hulk was having a good time making them into pebbles, and Thor was using Mjolnir to create a tornado vortex sweeping them back into the portal, while Natasha and Clint searched for the portal generator. They knew how to shut the things down, due to lessons Loki had given on 'weird shit they do in other dimensions', so all they had to do was follow the line of force. Bucky and Steve were doing civilian cover, getting people to safety- there were always gawkers. The invention of cell phone cameras made some people idiots. And Rhodey was having a great time, blasting Mindless Ones. He was probably more careful than Tony would have been about incidental damage, though. 

"SIR!" Jarvis said, "there are intru..." His voice garbled and shut down. Tony jerked his head up. There were three Mindless Ones standing in his living room.

"Oh, shit! Jarvis!" Tony didn't have any weapons, or armor, or anything. He rolled off of the couch and scuttled towards the elevator, praying they wouldn't blast him. He couldn't die, not now, not with his babies and Steve and...he tripped and fell, rolling to protect his stomach. He brought up his hands uselessly, palms out, as if he had the suit on.

"NO!" Loki shouted, nearly a roar, and a blast of icy air filled the room. Tony glanced back over his shoulder. Loki was blue. And shooting ice from his hands at the Mindless Ones. It didn't seem to bother them. In fact, they ignored him. Their slit glowing 'faces' were turned towards Tony and they began trudging toward him. They were moving slower than the ones in D.C., hands and arms outspread as if they were trying to herd him.

Loki flung himself in front of Tony. A Mindless One reached out and brushed Loki aside. Loki blasted it back with an ice spear, and then scrambled back to Tony and formed a thick dome of ice over them. He crouched down in front of Tony. "My powers are limited. I cannot stop them."

"Yeah. Listen, they seem to be after me. Run for it." 

Loki looked insulted. "No!" Then he pulled his brows down in thought. "You are right- they seem intent on capturing _you_. Perhaps they can be confused." He shimmered and suddenly he was Tony Stark, complete with belly and dangling belly buds. Tony could even hear a tinny rendition of 'I am Iron Man'. 

"Ok, now, that's weird."

Loki gave Tony his own smirk, but whatever he might have said was lost when a massive gray hand smashed the ice dome. All three of the Mindless Ones peered into it. At least Tony assumed they were looking, seeing, perceiving... whatever. They froze in place and Tony was about to congratulate Loki on his sneakiness, but the hesitation lasted only a few seconds. Then one of the Mindless Ones grabbed Loki from beside him, and another picked up Tony, with remarkable delicacy and seemingly particular care not to damage his midsection. Tony kicked and shouted. Loki did the same, but Stark Stereo was totally ineffective. 

The three Mindless Ones straightened, and stood still. And then something happened that Tony didn't have words for. His whole body felt dizzy, as if every part of him was whirling in different directions.

 

"Keep your eyes closed," Loki said in Tony's voice. He sounded strained, but calm. "This is a short-distance portal. It must emerge somewhere on Midgard. It will not be long."

Tony kept his eyes squeezed shut. He hoped the portal wouldn't hurt the kids. Which seemed kind of stupid, because whoever was behind this obviously wasn't a friendly, and hurt was on the menu. It seemed like a long time as it was happening, but probably lasted only a minute or so. When everything settled he opened his eyes. It was dark, but the darkness of open country away from city lights rather than the darkness of caves, or the darkness of blindfolds. He smelled grass and other plants, but luckily nothing his 'pregnancy nose' objected to. The Mindless One carrying Tony bent down and laid him carefully on a cold, rough stone, slab. From the sound of it Loki was placed on another slab nearby. Tony sat up cautiously. There wasn't a moon, and while the stars were clearly visible, they didn't illuminate anything. But... stone slabs? He looked at the stars and worked out where on the globe the constellations would look like that, this time of year. After moving his gaze lower and staring for a few seconds and blinking hard, he made out rough black rectangles outlined by stars. Put the facts together. Countryside. Western Europe in the temperate zone, which matched the time of day shift. Stone slabs. Stone menhirs. "Fucking Stonehenge?" 

"It would appear so," Loki replied in his Tony voice.

"TWO?" A deep and somehow sickening voice cried. "THERE IS ONLY ONE TONY STARK." The voice was coming from... yeah. A guy with a flaming head.

"Actually, [ public records search](http://www.publicrecords.com/people-search-records/tony-stark) turns up more than twenty, in the US alone," Tony said, "I bet there's only one of whatever your name is, Sparky."

Hot head waved his hand and all the stones glowed in a sickly yellow-green, bright enough to show the Mindless Ones and the newcomer. Firehead pointed at Loki. The light washed over him, and the illusion melted away, leaving Loki in his armor.

"Dormammu," Loki said in a very flat tone, the one he only used when things were really, really bad. "You are forbidden from this realm."

Dormammu threw his head back and laughed. "I permitted you to think so. I departed because there was nothing I wished from this paltry collection of ground-crawling worms. Until now." He strode over to the slab Tony was sitting on.

Tony lifted his head. "Whatever you want, you're not getting it. Unless you'd like someone to dowse your top-knot. Dummy is great with a fire extinguisher. Let's go back to my place and give it a whirl. Or, you know, we could have fun making flaming cocktails. You could be the life of the party." Dormammu gestured and Tony's voice suddenly shut down, his throat clamping tight.

"It is not you I want, but what you carry." Dormammu stroked one hand lightly over Tony's belly. "I shall regain my full power once I sacrifice an infant not of woman born. I waited for the perfect specimen. The child of heroes. You are ripe, and I shall pluck you. I shall force you into the world at my command.You will be born and gaze into my Faltine flames. Breathe and live and then die for me." 

Tony swallowed frantically, but he could not speak, couldn't move anything except his eyes. It was like being paralyzed again.

Loki said, "You've made a mistake."

Dormammu whirled at Loki and made a gesture. Loki choked. Dormammu opened his hand. "No, I shall not allow my temper to rule. Speak, little clod, little being of dirt."

"The child must be born strong for the sacrifice."

Dormammu said nothing.

"But there are two children, and they are not ready to be born. If you force them, they will die but you will gain nothing. Let us go."

"TWO?" 

Tony still couldn't move as Dormammu returned to lay his hand on Tony's belly once more. His skin crawled from the unclean contact. After a moment, Dormammu lifted his hand. 

"It is true. Two hearts, each too small, too weak, for the sacrifice. It is easily rectified." He put his hands back on Tony. The palms glowed flame orange. "Bah. Weak fleshy envelopes. They can only be accelerated so far without destruction. Very well. What are a few more hours?" He moved away from Tony. "You may not leave the stone portal, but I give you leave to entertain me by your efforts." He gave another twist of his hand and Tony doubled over, feeling the frantic movement within, too fast, too fast. 

Loki ran over to Tony and helped him slide down to sit on the grass, leaning against the stone. "What," Tony asked, "What did he do to me?"

"Accelerated the development," Loki said. He stroked lightly over Tony's belly. It felt clean and a comfort, but not enough. "I can read what was done, but not affect it. Of itself, it will do no harm. The spell is providing nutrients and all they need."

"But... when they're born?"

"Then I will fight." Loki looked at Tony. His eyes were bleak. "Perhaps I can distract him enough that you may flee with your children."

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it again. He knew a lie when he heard it. "How long?"

"A little over three hours, I judge." 

Tony's belly rippled and visibly expanded. Tony pressed his head back against the stone, gritting his teeth against days, weeks of discomfort, of kicks and pressures condensed into a few minutes. He said quietly, "They'll come. They'll find us."

"Yes, they will." Loki took Tony's hand and let him grip it tightly.

Neither of them mentioned the fact that it was unlikely the Avengers could defeat Dormammu even if they somehow managed to arrive in time.


	14. BUCKY

There were half a dozen or so of the rock zombies left when Bucky felt a cold internal clench. He used the fingertip lasers Tony had put in his arm to slice the head off a zombie. It didn't kill it, but it stopped the eye blasting beam. He turned to locate Steve. Steve looked fine, happily beating up rocks with his shield.

 _Must be gas._ Maybe Bucky needed to cut back on the spicy hot dogs. _Get your head back in the game._ The portal had been shut and the civilians cleared, just clean up the rest and everyone could go home. Hulk leaped past, holding a rock zombie and using it like a fly swatter. One two three, and jump. One two three, and growl because they'd run out of rock zombies.

Bucky grinned. Hulk hadn't tried to squash him. "Good job, big guy." Bucky drew the line at giving Hulk a congratulatory pat on the back. He needed all his limbs. His insides were still bothering him as he walked over to Steve. "We done here?" He rubbed at his chest with his flesh hand. The sensation had deepened and moved higher.

"There's still the clean-up..." Steve frowned at Bucky. "Were you hurt?"

"Nah. Just need some bicarb. Think Tony's fancy tower has anything that simple? Lemme ask Tony." Bucky tapped his comm. "Tony? Well, maybe he's gone to the john. Hey Jarvis? Jarvis, are you there?" He waited a beat, but the silence continued. "Did I do something to get you mad?"

Steve looked at Bucky and activated his own comm. "Avengers Tower? This is Captain Rogers. Reply please. Anyone who hears this, please respond." 

Bucky felt another pain, stronger, sharper, deeper. Steve jerked at the same time. "Steve, you felt it too?"

"Something's wrong." Steve looked grim.

The other Avengers gathered around, Thor whirling in to land, Natasha clinging to Clint's back as they rappelled down from the roof where the portal generator had been stationed, and Hulk grumbling as he sat down and began shrinking back down to Bruce. Rhodey hovered for a moment and then landed heavily. "What's going on?"

"We don't know. Where's Loki?" Steve asked after a swift glance at everyone.

"There." Thor pointed with Mjolnir across the reflecting fountain. Loki stood there, silent and still. "Loki! This is no time for games, brother!" He started forward, but Natasha caught at his arm.

"That's not Loki," she said. "Look. Look at the water. There's no reflection."

Clint snapped an arrow out of his quiver and fired. It passed though Loki. The figure wavered, like ripples on the water, and vanished. Steve said a short, sharp curse, and brought his comm back to his mouth. "Coulson," Steve snapped. He was already heading for the quinjet at a fast stride, nearly running. "The Tower's not responding. Loki wasn't with us. We're heading back, but we'd appreciate it if you got someone there to check out the situation now."

"Loki wouldn't... he, never mind, I'll meet you back at the Tower," Rhodey took off. 

He barely waited for Coulson to acknowledge before he slung his shield on his back and broke into a run. Bucky matched him stride for stride. Behind him he could hear Natasha and Clint, and Thor murmuring a brief explanation before he picked up Bruce and followed. 

That pain, Bucky had felt it before, felt it during all the years as the Winter Soldier, but it had been dull. Dull when Steve had been frozen, suspended between life and death. But it was sharp now. And Steve was fine. But Tony wasn't answering. Bondmates weren't supposed to feel things over this great a distance, but most bondmates hadn't been filled with Erskine's serum. 

It only took a few minutes to reach the quinjet. Clint pushed forward to take the controls with Natasha going to serve as co-pilot. "Strap in," Clint said, "I'm not waiting for clearance to go supersonic."

A few minutes later, Bruce lifted his head and shook it. "What?"

Apparently Thor's explanation hadn't sunk in. Bucky leaned close and spoke softly. He didn't need to upset Steve any further. "Loki's gone and we can't reach Tony."

"Oh." Bruce ran his hands through his hair and blinked. "Um. Tony's lost?"

Steve had put his hand up to his ear. Now he nodded. "Understood, we'll be arriving shortly." Steve adjusted his comm so it also sent to Rhodey, who was pacing the quinjet. "Something muted Jarvis. He can't communicate, but he was able to show security footage. Three of those Mindless Ones showed up and took Tony and Loki." Steve looked at Thor. "Loki tried to protect Tony, and when that failed, he put on Tony's appearance. Apparently Tony was the target all along and all this was only a diversion."

Thor nodded. He looked grim. "We will find them."

"They went through a portal," Steve said. "Coulson said it was small, small enough to fit into the room."

Thor brightened. "Did he say what color it was?"

"Blue. A very light blue."

"Ah. That is a short range portal. They are yet on Midgard! We shall find them swiftly!"

Bucky didn't think Thor really had any idea how large Earth was, but there was no point in depressing him. Bucky was depressed enough for both of them. The trip back to the Tower was short. Bruce was still stumbling as Thor helped him out at the hangar and they all took the elevator up to the main room. There were people from SHIELD all over the place, and it put Bucky's teeth on edge. He'd finally started to make a place for himself, started to make a family. He was, by God, going to have babies to spoil, and Steve by his side, and he didn't want to lose that. Didn't want to lose Tony. Tony was... he was necessary to Bucky, not for the things he did, and not just for the babies, but just because he was. He didn't think Steve and he would ever be whole again if they lost him. He was so wound up in their bond Bucky couldn't tell where he ended and... no, that wasn't quite true. The pain did have a direction, like a string wrapped around something inside him, and it tugged, that was what hurt, the pull.

"Hey, Steve?" Bucky brushed aside a SHIELD agent who was talking to Steve. "I can feel Tony."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... like a pull. A direction. Can't you feel it?"

Steve shook his head. "Not like that. Are you sure?" 

Bucky shouldn't blame Steve for the doubtful look on his face. This was like something out of a fairytale. And Bucky wasn't Tony's Alpha. If Steve couldn't sense a direction, then how could he? "I'm sure."

"Colonel Rhodes?" Steve raised his voice to catch Rhodey's attention. He was in the full War Machine armor, but had removed the helmet to talk with Coulson. "Bucky says his bond gives him a direction for Tony. Can you sense something like that for Loki?"

Rhodey shook his head. "No, sir. It's just... it hurts. That's all." 

"I'm not lying," Bucky said.

"Never said you were," Rhodey replied, "it's just... I don't feel it. Never met anyone who said they did. Not like that." He turned back to Coulson. "There's gotta be some kind of trace to follow. Those portals are weird energy, must show up on something."

"Probably they do," Coulson replied, "but either we don't have the right equipment, or we're not calibrating it right, or we're not looking in the right direction."

Bruce cleared his throat. He'd got dressed and joined the scientists trying to get useful information from Jarvis. Jarvis didn't have much. The technology or magic or whatever it was behind the mini-portal was unknown to him. "Maybe we're looking for the wrong energy. The arc reactor's signature is unmistakable. I can rig up a detector down in the shop."

"Yeah." Rhodey brightened. "Tony's got some in buildings, but we know where they are. We cross off the War Machine, and what's left will be Tony."

Steve nodded. "That makes sense."

It made sense, Bucky couldn't argue that. "How long will it take you to make this detector?" he asked Bruce.

"Um. I don't know. It depends on what I find in the workshop. Tony may have something I can modify so I don't have to start from scratch." Bruce headed for the elevator. "Jarvis can't talk to us, but maybe the bots can help."

 

Bucky didn't like having nothing to do in a crisis. He paced for a few minutes and then he went over to Steve again, when the pain sharpened and deepened even more. "I'm sure, Steve. And I'm sure we're running out of time. Let me borrow a pilot and a quinjet from SHIELD. If I'm wrong, there's all the rest of you to follow any other leads. But I'm not doing any good here."

"No." Steve held up his hand to stop Bucky's protest. "No, I'm not letting you go by yourself. I'm coming with you." Steve went to Rhodey. "I'm putting you in charge of the Avengers. Bucky and I are going to follow his lead."

"Going with the gut? That sounds more like something Tony would do." Rhodey nodded. "Good luck, Captain. If you find them first, tell Loki I'm proud of him."

"Will do." Steve saluted. 

Bucky felt a little bad that he hadn't considered that Rhodey's bond was endangered, too. Rhodey didn't act as if it was really hurting. Maybe he was good at hiding it. Or maybe Loki wasn't in as bad a shape as Tony. That wasn't a good thought to dwell on. Bucky followed Steve out to the helipad. One of the pilots gave them a lift to the helicarrier.

 

"Sir." Steve didn't waste time requesting a meeting with the director. He and Bucky went straight to the command center, where, as they expected, Fury was overseeing things. Bucky didn't care what things, and neither did Steve. "Sir, Bucky can follow the bond to Tony. We need a quinjet and a pilot."

Fury stared at Steve. "Where's the rest of your team, Rogers?"

"They're preparing to follow another lead." Steve stared at Fury. "We're not going to wait. Whatever has Tony and Loki took them for a reason. It was important enough to go to some trouble and expenditure of troops to lure the Avengers away. It could very well be a danger to the whole world."

Bucky thought that was possible, but it sounded like an excuse to him. He didn't know what Fury thought of it.

Fury sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Hill," Fury sharpened his voice without raising it.

Hill looked up from the console she was examining. She straightened. "Sir?"

"The command is yours until I return."

"Sir?" She raised her eyebrows. "May I inquire where you are going, sir?"

"Sure, you can ask." He waved a hand at her. "My daddy, Jack Fury, was a pilot. I haven't had a good excuse to fly myself in years. C'mon." Fury strode off, leather coat flapping around him like black wings. 

Fury led them down to an armory, and opened a couple of crates. The guns inside were strange to Bucky, but Steve took one look and snatched one out. "Where did you get these?"

"Santa Claus. I was damn good that year. Do you want to argue with me, soldier? Now is not the time."

Steve stood stiff for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Later." He tossed a gun to Bucky. Fury had already gone further into the armory and opened a security locked storage area. There was nothing in it except a steel briefcase. Fury picked up the case, then paused and pressed a depression in the wall. A drawer slid out to reveal a pair of black gloves. He picked up the gloves and stuffed them in his pockets. "Let's go, gentlemen."

Bucky and Steve followed Fury onto the flight deck and waited while Fury waved over the flight deck coordinator. She nodded and within seconds a quinjet was towed into position on the runway. Fury didn't look behind as he marched up the boarding ramp. "Stow this," he told Steve, tossing the briefcase at him. "Don't open it."

"What's in it?" Steve asked as he fixed the case securely into an equipment net on the bulkhead.

"Something I don't wanna use." Fury settled into the pilot's position and took the quinjet up. "Be a lot happier if that case never gets opened. Barnes, get your ass up here and tell me which way to point this bird."

"Yes, sir." Bucky took navigator's place and closed his eyes, concentrating on the pull. His arm came up and his pointer finger followed the invisible thread. He opened his eyes. "That way."

Fury grunted and turned the plane until Bucky was pointing straight ahead. "Compass locked in. You can put your arm down unless the direction changes." Bucky had the feeling he was only humoring them, but he didn't really care. They were moving in the right direction. A few minutes later they cleared New York's airspace and were over the Atlantic. "You got any idea how far we're going?"

"It's..." The thread was tight, but somehow felt thin. "Far. Really far."

Fury threw the Mach 2.1 repulsor turbo jet engines into full. "Right. Tell me if we overshoot." He flipped a switch on the communications panel. "Director Fury, connecting to SHIELD command. Anything on the Stark Loki disappearance?"

Maria Hill's voice came through the speakers, "Nothing yet, Director. Dr. Banner estimates completion of the detector within twenty minutes. Do you need updates on any other current situations?"

"Yeah. Put the rest through my earbud." Fury shoved a StarkPad into a slot in the instrument panel and input a password, waited a few seconds and then pulled it out and handed it to Bucky. "Instruction manual on those guns. Read it with Rogers. And remember, don't cross the streams."

"Streams?" Bucky took the pad and looked at the glowing blue diagram.

"Yeah. That would be bad." Fury turned his attention back to the flight controls.

 

Bucky went back to Steve and they studied the manual together. SHIELD apparently wasn't entirely sure what these guns would do. Bucky said, "Didn't they ever test-fire these things?" He picked his up and tried to calibrate the sight. "How do you build a weapon without knowing what it's supposed to do?"

"You steal a prototype and copy it," Steve said. "The only difference is they left off the Hydra logo."

From the cockpit, Fury said, "Hydra ain't gonna sue for patent infringement."

"What did SHIELD intend to do with them?" Steve asked.

"Make sure no one else had 'em. Use 'em to protect the Earth if it came down to that."

"They should never have been built."

"Maybe not, but you know, there's things out there now that don't follow our rules. So I throw away the rule book. If that makes me a bad guy, hell yes, I'm a bad guy. But I'll be the bad guy standing over the smokin' corpse of the worse guy. I like it that way."

Steve's hand tightened, white-knuckled on the grip of the gun he held. Bucky cleared his throat. "Hey, Steve, I'm not sure about this bit. Can you help me out here?"

Steve blinked and then took a deep breath. "Sure, Buck. Sure."

 

After that they flew on in silence, broken only by infrequent updates on the progress of the other Avengers search. Bruce completed the detector eighteen minutes after Fury took off. Eliminating all known arc reactor sources and scanning in sweeps took another forty minutes. "Somewhere in Colorado," Bruce said. They could hear the other Avengers talking quietly in the background over the sounds of the other quinjet. "It's moving at speeds averaging thirty miles per hour, interspersed with bursts up to seventy. We should intercept it little over an hour from now, if that continues to hold true."

"Sounds like back country roads," Fury commented. "No one lookin', you can put the pedal down for the straight stretches." He looked back at Bucky. "You want to give me a new heading check?" 

Bucky returned to the navigator's seat. The pull was stronger. "We're still going right."

Fury flipped up a magnified map. It showed their course as a straight line. "Nothing but water until we reach Ireland in about an hour and half. I'll call ahead for flight clearance. People get prickly if you show up uninvited."

Bucky was prepared to defend his feeling, but Fury didn't give him anything to fight against. Sometimes Betas annoyed him, they acted as if nothing mattered. He went back to Steve who was properly tense and ready to punch a hole in the fuselage at the slightest excuse. Which maybe Fury knew. "Hey, Steve."

Steve looked up from the weapon he was still holding. Bucky knew he preferred his shield, but he'd not hesitated to use guns when the situation called for it; when achieving the objective was more important than reducing the number of enemy you killed. Steve was more merciful than Bucky who never had a problem shooting anyone who was shooting at him. "Hey, Buck. We're gonna get them back."

"You know it." Bucky sat next to him. "Tony called me Uncle Buck the other day."

"That was nice of him," Steve said absently.

Bucky laughed. "Well, maybe. You gotta see the movie, Steve." He nudged Steve's shoulder. "We're gonna get the little shit back. He's gonna be bitchin' at us for taking so long, and leaving him to take care of the bad guys on his own."

"Yeah." Steve gave Bucky a weak smile. "Sure. We'll just follow the explosions."

 

An hour later Rhodey called. "We found the signal." He sounded grim. "It was a wild goose chase. Literally." The comm switched to full video. Behind Rhodey the rest of the Avengers were gathered. They all looked furious and frustrated. Hawkeye held up a dead Canada goose transfixed by an arrow. An arc reactor had been implanted in its chest. Bruce was standing next to him, looking slightly green. "There isn't an unaccounted active reactor showing on the detector. Tony's... it must be shielded."

"Or it's been destroyed," Fury said.

"No," Steve said firmly. "Bucky and I still feel the bond. We're continuing on course. Director Fury will give you the heading. Follow at your best speed."

 

Fury set the quinjet in hover mode within sight of the Irish coast. "From here on, we go slow and in stealth mode," Fury said. He checked with Bucky again before continuing forward motion. "Not Ireland. Southern England, and the Netherlands next."

"England. Feels close." Bucky wanted to smash out the cockpit window and drag himself along the line. If Steve hadn't held him back, he might have.

"Hope it's not London," Fury said. "SHIELD doesn't need a diplomatic mess."

Steve said, "If this guy opens another portal and brings in more rock monsters, I don't think diplomacy's gonna be our biggest problem."

They went slower as the bond intensity increased, and Bucky's arm began angling down, the closer they got. "Not London," Fury said. "Jesus. Salisbury plain."

Bucky didn't know the significance of that. He looked at Steve. "What? All I know is Salisbury steak. What's this, a cow pasture?"

"Stonehenge, Buck. Ancient stones set up over four thousand years ago. A lot of people think they're magic."

"Huh. Magic stones. Goes with the rock monsters, I guess." Bucky went to the back of the quinjet and picked up his gun. "How quiet can this quinjet fly?"

"Damn quiet," Fury said. He slowed even further. "They think a lot of Stonehenge," Fury said, noncommittally. 

"Yeah," Steve replied as he got his shield and the other gun. "I'll remember that."

"Opening the rear hatch. Wait for my mark to jump," Fury flipped a few switches. "I'll be joining you as soon as I set this bird down." The quinjet went into hover mode and slowly sank. 

Bucky looked down through the open hatch. The rocks were glowing a dull greenish yellow, but at the base of one he could see a faint blue glow. "Tony's there." The glow was moving, but not much.

"I see him," Steve said. "But what's that... a campfire?" He pointed to a red-orange patch of flickering flames near the arc reactor. They were still too high to make out any details. He handed Bucky a pair of night vision goggles. "Lucky we have the image enhancing NVD instead of the old thermal imaging."

Bucky slipped on his goggles. The world was lit in tones of green. "Woah. Three Rock lobsters... and a really strange guy. His head is on fire."

Steve put on his goggles. "They're close to Tony. Loki's there, too." He shifted his shield to his back."If the guns don't take out the Mindless Ones, then whichever of us can get to Tony, take him and go. And don't look back."

Bucky nodded. "Yeah." He stood shoulder to shoulder next to Steve. "You know, I wouldn't mind being Uncle Buck."

Fury snapped, "GO!"

And they jumped. The guns worked beautifully on the Mindless Ones, disintegrating where the beams hit, and leaving stumpy stone legs standing in the center of the menhirs, where they would be bound to confuse the tourists in the morning.

The flame-headed creature screamed, "No!" and made a gesture that sent a bolt of something that wasn't as clean as fire at them. They ducked and split to either side. Out of the corner of his eye, Bucky saw Loki crouched over Tony, who was lying on the ground, far too close to the bad guy for a snatch and run. And from the pained noises Tony was making, he was injured. Bucky couldn't see well enough in the glimpse he had to tell if it would be safe to carry Tony away, so the only thing to do was to get rid of the firehead.

That was easier said than done. Bucky's fingertip lasers, Steve's shield and the new guns--- all just bounced off of him, or rather off a barely visible pale green glow surrounding him. Bucky worked his way around to keep the creature facing away from Tony, with Steve working to the same aim at an angle to him. Maybe Loki could do something. He was tougher than he looked. 

Bucky heard running feet behind him, but he didn't turn. He recognized Fury. Even a Beta had a scent, and Bucky's nose was plenty good enough to recognize him. "Get the hell offa my lawn!" Fury shouted as he came up even with Bucky. He was wearing black gloves, and holding a brightly glowing blue cube. "Go back where you came from!" He threw the cube.

Bucky expected it to bounce off the green glow, but instead it touched and the green flared up bright blue, swirled into a vast starry infinity and sucked the flame headed whatever in, struggling and clawing at the edge of the vortex. Steve threw his shield. It hit the creature's fingers, knocking it loose and into the void, which shrank to a tiny dot, and made a quiet 'blip' noise as it vanished, returning the night to normal. The cube fell to the ground, glow diminished to a dull sparkle.

"Huh. That worked," Fury said in a tone of mild astonishment. He picked up the cube and put it back in the briefcase. "Ok, we good to go? I'm double parked."

Tony screamed. Loki shouted, "Help! Tony's having the babies, right NOW!"

"That's impossible!" Steve said. They all ran over to Tony and Loki. Steve took one look and fainted. Bucky caught him and lowered him to the ground. 

"What the hell?" Bucky knelt next to Tony who was absolutely huge, and definitely in the advanced stages of labor. He was naked, with his discarded clothing lying underneath him so there wasn't any doubt at all in the world.

"Dormammu," Loki said. He was wiping at Tony's forehead with a scrap of cloth, and his eyes were wide with panic. "Accelerated. Babies. Now. Coming. Babies."

Well, it was obvious Loki and Steve weren't going to be any help.

"Uh huh. Babies," Fury said. "I'll just go wait in the quinjet."

Bucky scowled at Fury. "Go turn on all the lights and get all the medical supplies and blankets out." He pushed at Steve with his foot. "Get up, Daddy." That got Steve awake and up on his feet. "Follow Fury." Steve looked like he was in shock, and Loki wasn't much better. Bucky pushed them at each other. "G'wan! I'll take care of Tony."

"Can you?" Steve asked, looking at Bucky for guidance, like he hadn't done since they were kids.

"Sure. Piece of cake." Bucky pushed again, and finally Steve grabbed Loki and they stumbled after Fury. Bucky picked Tony up.

Tony whined and clutched at Bucky's shirt. "Hurts."

"Yeah. I know." Bucky started walking as fast as he could over the close-cropped turf, stepping around the rock monster debris. "But you're fine. You're doing great. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I've been deliverin' babies since I was fourteen. You'll be great. You've got the hips for it."

Tony huffed a short laugh. "Tell you what." Tony paused to breathe through a contraction, panting and gasping. "Do... a good job and you can name them."

Bucky carried Tony into the quinjet. Fury was ripping open a package of what looked like body bags, Loki was sitting next to Steve and fanning him with the shield, which told Bucky more about Steve's state than the gray-green complexion. "Steve! Go boil some water."

"Water? Right, yes." Steve looked around and grabbed a bottle of water and a helmet.

"Outside!" Bucky pointed. "Find something to make a fire. And take Loki with you." Bucky then looked at Fury, who sighed and took off his leather coat and rolled up his sleeves.

 

Whatever firehead had done, it worked great. Bucky barely had time to get Tony situated on a plastic and blanket covered cot before baby number one began making its appearance. Bucky scrubbed up frantically and finished just in time to play catch. "It's a girl!" The red-faced baby squalled in outrage. "Great lungs." He did a quick basic check that she wasn't having any problems, and handed her off to Fury, who'd just finished his own quick scrub and had a soft blanket handy. The kid shut up the moment Fury touched her.

Bucky blinked at Fury. Fury looked smug. He began crooning something about going the fuck to sleep. The baby yawned. 

Tony yelled and Bucky turned back to grab the next heir to billions. "And...another girl!" The first one had a tiny tuft of light colored hair, but this baby was bald and a little smaller than her sister. She let out a yell, and woke her sister. Bucky wrapped her up after a cursory systems check, and added her to Fury's collection. The second baby shut up.

Tony pushed up on his elbows to peer at Fury, who was holding both babies and obviously trying to look as if he wasn't pleased. "Huh." He lay back down and made grabby hands. "Gimme my stuff. I made them, SHIELD doesn't get them." His eyes weren't tracking well and he sounded drunk with exhaustion.

Fury laughed and sat down on the cot opposite, where Tony could see the babies. "Stark, the last thing in the world I want is to steal your kids."

Bucky started cleaning Tony up. "No one's taking them. Uncle Buck is here to make sure."

Tony gave Bucky a tired grin. "Yay for Uncle Buck."

"I've decided on their names."

"What?" Tony was staring at the babies. 

"Yeah. The first one's Denise."

"Denise. That's pretty," Fury said. 

Tony tilted his head and lowered his brows as if he was thinking hard. "S not bad."

"And the second is DaOtherNiece."

Tony looked at Bucky and brought his hands palms up in repulsor threat mode.

Bucky grinned. "Gotcha. No... how about Michelle and Angelique?"

Tony didn't have a chance to agree or disagree, because Steve came rushing into the quinjet carrying a steaming helmet dangling from the chin strap. "I've got the boiled water! What do I do with it?"

Tony blinked. "Make coffee?"


	15. STEVE

After spending two days at a community hospital near Stonehenge, with Bucky and Steve having increasing difficulty keeping the paparazzi away from Tony and the girls while they were thoroughly checked for any health problems, they all just wanted to go home. Thank God, the babies were fine, and even though Tony was suffering from exhaustion and needed a lot of building up, he would recover without any special treatment. The rest of the Avengers had arrived two hours too late for the battle, all wound up and waving weapons around. They'd thrown the hospital's small staff for a loop before they'd reluctantly returned to New York. Someone was always trying to attack the city, they couldn't leave it unguarded for long. Steve had been glad to see the hero's reception Loki got, and how he blossomed under the praise.

Fury had been antsy to return to the helicarrier, but at the same time he was enjoying his status as baby-whisperer. Tony thought they were fascinated by the eyepatch, and wanted to borrow it. Fury had said 'no' in no uncertain terms. Tony had sulked.

Tony's emotions were all over the place, which Bucky assured him was normal, but it still was unsettling to see Tony crying over the video link to Pepper because even she couldn't make the bespoke, handcrafted, ridiculously high-tech baby furniture that Tony had been planning to order, but hadn't actually got around to ordering, magically appear. 

Finally Steve had just walked into the hospital room and taken the phone from Tony. "Pepper, thank you very much, I'm sure Tony appreciates everything you've done for him. Don't worry about it. We're going home now. I'm pretty sure there are baby cribs in New York City. We'll be fine. Good bye." Then he ended the call and told Tony, "The doctors said you and our girls could leave whenever we want." He held out a robe. Tony snatched it and sat up to throw it on.

"I want. Quinjet's still here, right?" 

"Yeah." Steve grinned and he knew it was a dopey grin, but he didn't care. "Michelle and Angelique have Fury wrapped around their little fingers. He kept talking about going without us, but then Hill told him everything's under control and he pretended he was staying to debrief us on Dormammu."

"Michelle and Angelique."

"Well, you did promise Bucky he could name them."

Tony nodded. "But I didn't say anything about middle names. How does Michelle Maria and Angelique Sarah strike you? I mean, maybe they won't like fancy names. Sometimes something old-fashioned is just what you need." Tony smiled. "There were some good things in the past."

Steve's throat felt tight at the thought that Tony wanted their mothers' names to live on. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds swell." He leaned down to kiss Tony. "Bucky's with the girls. Fury's warming up the quinjet."

"Lets go home."

 

Tony fell into a deep sleep five minutes after boarding the quinjet while Bucky and Steve tried to keep the twins from fussing. At one point Bucky leaned close to Steve and whispered over Michelle's cranky noises, "How much d'ya think Fury charges per hour to babysit?"

"Your life, fortune and sacred honor," Fury said from the cockpit.

"I recognize that," Steve said, groggily. With his children and Tony under the care of strangers, he hadn't slept in over two days. He could stay awake longer if there was need, but right now he didn't _need_ to stay awake, and he had to fight to keep his eyes open. "It's from the Declaration of Independence," he told Bucky solemnly. Bucky looked at him oddly. 

"Go lie down, Steve." 

They'd retrofitted several of the bunks into one semi-comfortable bed. Tony didn't take up all of it, although he did his best starfish impression. Steve slipped under the covers next to him, and sighed happily when Tony turned instinctively and snuggled up against him. He felt Bucky smooth the covers in place over them both and kiss him on his temple. "Yeah. It's good," Bucky said. "It's all good. Go to sleep, Steve."

Bucky started singing a lullaby, softly. 

"Go to sleep my baby, Close your pretty eyes;  Angels up above you, Peeping at you dearie from the skies.  Great big moon is shining, Stars begin to peep;  Time for little Avengers to go to sleep,  Avengers time to go to sleep."

Steve wanted to protest that he wasn't a baby, but Tony was in his arms, all warm and smelling contented, and Bucky and the babies and even Fury all smelled like family and he was too comfortable to really wake up enough to be annoyed. Steve wasn't an unwanted orphan any more, or a dancing monkey, or a soldier. Just Steve, in the heart of his family. He'd finally got everything he wanted and could go to sleep and dream of the future, the warm and bright future.


End file.
